Life As I Know It
by Samantha14
Summary: A story about Lorelai, starting when she's fifteen and not pregnant, all the way until she's thirty-two with an almost sixteen-year-old. R/R, please! Rating is for swearing in one chapter. *COMPLETED!!* FINALLY!
1. Life As I Know It

Title: Life As I Know It  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or the characters. I do not own anything I mention that is obviously not mine. I kind of own the situations, and I do own the new characters.  
  
Summary: It is October 1983, and Lorelai is fifteen. This chronicles Lorelai and Christopher's relationship.  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
  
  
**Lorelai**  
  
  
  
Ugh, I hate this dress! It's all stiff, and pink, and scratchy! For some reason Mom insists that I wear it every time she has friends over for dinner. All of her friends are just like her, old stick-in-the-asses. Who's coming over tonight? Oh, the Schnickelfritzes. Or as Mom likes to call them, the Haydens. Ugh, they're the worst. Their son's okay, but Mom's always hinting about how cute he is. I refuse to believe that preppy Christopher Hayden, whom I've known since kindergarten, could be considered as cute by anyone. He's just...not.  
  
  
  
**Christopher**  
  
  
  
Ah, another dinner at the Gilmores' house. It's been awhile since I've seen Lorelai. I wonder if she's changed. Let's see, the last time I saw her, she had just bought the new John Cougar album, and she was trying to wear it out by listening to "Jack and Diane". And that's how she said goodbye, "Little ditty 'bout Jack and Diane. Two American kids doing the best they can." Man, was she weird!  
  
  
  
**Emily**  
  
  
  
Lorelai looks so nice in that pink dress. She will probably look better when she stops scratching and puts a smile on her pretty face. I should tell her. But, no. She's fifteen; I'm sure she'll stop when she sees how Christopher has grown since last year. Oh,they're here!!   
  
  
  
**Lorelai**  
  
  
  
Oh, they're here. Whoop-de-do. Mr. Schnickelfritz, Mrs. Schnickelfritz, and--who is that? Wow. Is that Chris? He's wearing a leather jacket! I wonder how he slipped that by his parents?  
  
  
  
**Christopher**  
  
  
  
Wow. Lor's grown up. She looks good. She looks really good. Really, really, really good. I wonder if she still has that John Cougar album?  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Lorelai walked up to Christopher as they followed their parents into the study.  
  
"Chris."  
  
"Lor."  
  
They grinned at each other.Oh, boy, did they grin at each other. On the walk to the study, in the study, the walk to the dining room, across the table, and, finally, as the Gilmores walked the Haydens to the door.  
  
"Good-bye, Straub." Richard shook his hand.  
  
"Bye, Francine. See you Wednesday at D.A.R.!" Emily waved.  
  
"It's not that cold anymore," Francine hissed to Christopher as he tried to put his leather jacket back on. Chris glanced at Lorelai and put it on anyway.  
  
"Chris."  
  
"Lorelai." With a wink and a grin, Chris was gone, his mother pulling his jacket off.  
  
"Well, you were awfully rude, Lorelai." The voice pulled Lorelai out of her stupor.  
  
"What, Mom?" Lorelai asked sweetly.  
  
"To Christopher. You were rude to Christopher. The only son of our dearest friends, and you barely said two words to him."  
  
"Sometimes, you don't need words to say something." Lorelai answered dreamily as she started up the stairs. "Good-night."  
  
Emily stared dumbfoundedly after her daughter, slightly worried.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Lorelai was reading People magazine when there was a tap on her window. She stood up and walked from her bed to the window. Christopher was standing on the other side.Lorelai climbed through her window to the small balcony.  
  
"Hi."  
  
"Hi. Here." Chris handed a flower to Lorelai. She took it.  
  
"Wow. Where did you get this from, and why are you giving it to me?"  
  
"From our greenhouse, and because maybe you'll remember how sweet I am when I ask you to go out with me."  
  
"You're asking me to go out with you?" Lorelai's voice squeaked.  
  
"No. Not yet," he added quickly as her face fell. He kissed her on her cheek. "See you at school."  
  
"At school? Wait, you don't go there!"  
  
"I do now." Chris called from his perch in the tree beside the balcony. "Remember. Tomorrow." He shimmied down, jumped to the ground, and picked up his bike and rode away.  
  
"Tomorrow." Lorelai whispered as she watched him pedal home, his untucked shirttails flying behind him. She shivered and smiled as she climbed back inside, then stared at his retreating form until she couldn't see it any longer. "Tomorrow." 


	2. Wreaking Havoc

Wreaking Havoc Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter Two: Wreaking Havoc  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or the recognizable characters that belong to Gilmore Girls. I sort of own the situations, and I own the new characters that came from the cobwebby corners of my mind.  
  
A/N: Thanks to the _one_ person who reviwed!! Please review, people, I don't wanna have to blackmail!  
  
  
  
***************  
  
  
  
Lorelai woke up early the next day. It was Tuesday, and usually Lorelai didn't like Tuesdays--they come after Mondays--but Lorelai eagerly got ready for school, and was at the table at six-thirty, a record for her. Her mother came into the dinig room and was startled to find Lorelai sitting there. Emily covered it, though, by sitting down and asking non-chalantly, "Lorelai, why are you up so early?"  
  
Richard, who was also sitting at the table, lowered his newspaper and noticed his daughter. "Yes, why the devil _are_ you up so early?"  
  
Lorelai shrugged. "Just wanna get to school early."  
  
"What? I can't hear you when you mumble like that. You must annuciate." Richard stressed the last word.  
  
"Yes, and don't shrug. It's very unladylike."  
  
Lorelai shrugged again.  
  
Emily sighed. "Honestly, Richard, I don't know what to do with her."  
  
"Take me to school early to get rid of me?"  
  
"Well, Emily, it's a good idea."  
  
"Yes, I suppose so. All right, come on Lorelai."  
  
"Hee hee! Yay!" Lorelai jumped out of her chair, grabbed her bag from a hook near the door, and almost ran into the front door. Emily headed after her.  
  
"Lorelai, that is incredibly unladylike! And what on earth are you wearing?"  
  
"It's just my Madonna bangles."  
  
"Why the hell is your shirt unbuttoned almost all the way to your navel?"  
  
"Mom, don't cuss, it's very unladylike. And you are exaggerating way too much! It's only unbuttoned to the middle of my bra."  
  
"Well, button it back up!"  
  
"Fine!"  
  
Richard listened to the conversation, his indecision showing on his face. The conversation was funny from afar, but when it was his daughter and his wife, it was worrying. Lorelai was getting worse.  
  
  
  
**********  
  
  
  
Lorelai stood in the hallway at Highland Preparatory Academy. _That's not him, that's not him_, Lorelai stared at every boy that walked toward her. Than a boy in a leather jacket caught her eye. _That's him, that's him!_ Lorelai hopped up and down on the balls of her feet. He was coming her way. Getting closer, closer, closer...  
  
"Hi." Chris whispered after the kiss.  
  
"Hi." Lorelai whispered back. Then she leaned in again and pressed her lips against his. The kiss was longer, and full of fire this time. Both of the teenagers had trouble breathing after this kiss. The bell rang and the hallway emptied quickly. Lorelai started to head toward class, but Chris held her back. She looked quizedly at him. He shook his head and gestured toward the double doors that led outside. She hesitated, but he had this puppy-dog look on his face. She smiled and followed him outside, only worrying a little about missing English. She missed English, Geometry, History, and everything else for the rest of the day. 


	3. Birthdays

Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter Three: Birthdays  
  
Disclaimer: Standard. I own none of the characters that you recognize, but I made up a few.  
  
A/N: Thank you to the person who pointed out the wrong year, this has been remedied.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
October, 1983. To be exact, October 20, 1983. Christopher Hayden's sixteenth birthday. Straub and Francine Hayden threw a huge party in honor of Christopher. Everyone at Highland Prep came. The party was stiff, and boring, and the only music was supplied by a string quartet, but the big part of the evening came at the end, when all of the guests had left. Straub, Francine, and Christopher Hayden, along with their best friends, Richard, Emily and Lorelai Gilmore, walked out the front door of the house. Christopher's eyes popped open when he saw what waited for him at the end of the drive: a Porsche. Lorelai screamed in delight when she saw it, and she and Christopher jumped up and down in the driveway. The Haydens were delighted the gift went over well, and the Gilmores were shocked at the extravagance. Emily immediately started planning an even better gift for Lorelai's birthday in two months. Lorelai and Christopher, happily oblivious to their parents, were having too much fun kissing, and when both of their mothers cleared their throats, they seperated and silently planned a midnight meeting. Lorelai smiled and pecked Chris on his cheek.  
  
"Bye, Lor."  
  
"Bye, Chris."  
  
Lorelai headed off with her parents, Chris stayed with his, and their eyes never left the other person's face.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Chris knocked on Lorelai's balcony window two hours later: midnight. Lorelai jumped out of bed in jeans and a Pinkie Tuscadaro t-shirt. She climbed out the window and hugged Christopher's tall, slim form. Lorelai shivered and Chris put his leather jacket around her shoulders. She smiled at shimmied down the tree after Chris. At the bottom of the tree, Chris caught her and slowly lowered her to the ground. Their bodies were melded together. Soon their lips were too. Chris pinned Lorelai to the tree, rubbing his arms up and down her body. Lorelai did the same. They got caught up in their passion, and when the leather jacket was shed and the shirts were coming off, Lorelai stopped Chris. She looked pointedly at the nearby parked Porsche. Chris shrugged and took Lorelai's hand and led her to the car. He lifted Lorelai up and over the car door into the seat. Lorelai giggled. Chris jumped over his door and started the car. He gunned the engine and they drove out into the street. Lorelai and Chris were silent until they passed out of the Gilmores' driveway, and then started shrieking delightedly. Chris got faster and faster, Lorelai got closer and closer, and then...CRASH!!! 


	4. Consequences

Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter Four: Consequences  
  
Disclaimer: Standard. I own not the Gilmore Girls.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Lorelai sat on the edge of a bed in the hospital's emergency room. She swung her legs, feeling like a little girl again. The doctor had just come in and put a cast on her wrist; she had fractured it. She also had a fractured rib. Lorelai figured she got off well compared to what Christopher must have wrong with him. She imagined him coming to school tomorrow with his leather jacket draped over the back of his wheelchair that he had to ride in because of the broken arms and legs. Lorelai laughed silently at the thought, but her smile froze on her face as she saw who came into the room.  
  
"Mom."  
  
"Lorelai, are you alright? The doctor said you had a fracture. I hope he was an actual doctor. Did you know some people go around impersonating doctors? I think we should call for a second opinion, and if they won't let us, we'll call Joseph on them."  
  
"Cissy's dad?"  
  
"Yes. Anyway, how are you?"  
  
"I'm fine, Mom. I fractured my wrist, though," Lorelai held up her cast, "and I have a fractured rib, too."  
  
"Oh, you poor thing!"  
  
"Don't worry, I'm okay. Especially compared to what Chris is going through."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, Chris was driving. Didn't he get hurt?"  
  
"No, not really. He's got a cut on his chest that'll need stitches, and a few scrapes, but that's about it."  
  
"Damn, that sucks!"  
  
"Lorelai!" Emily sounded shocked. "That is a completely inappropiate attitude for this kind of thing."  
  
"Well, it just doesn't seem fair that he was the one who was driving and who got me into this situation, and I'm the one who's gonna have a cast for six weeks!"  
  
"Yes, I know. It's not fair."  
  
"I hate him." Lorelai muttered angrily.  
  
"Well, I'm sorry for that. Now you need to lay down and get some rest." Emily hovered over Lorelai like a mother hen, rubbing her hair and murmuring how it was going to be okay until the painkillers caught up with Lorelai and she conked out.   
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Lorelai woke up in her own bed hours later. She was wearing her pajamas and the sheets were pulled up to her chin. Someone was stroking her hair. Lorelai tried to raise her left arm to swat the hand away but couldn't lift it up because it was too heavy. She remembered the crash and the cast and groaned. Then she lifted her right arm and hit the hand away from her head. There was an extremely loud "OW!" but no more hair-stroking. Lorelai smiled and turned over to face the hair-stroker. Chris gazed back at her and smiled when he saw her eyes. She scowled back.  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"Well, I felt sorry for what I did."  
  
"You should. It was all your fault."  
  
"I know."  
  
Lorelai's ice-cold facade was melting under Christopher's warm gaze. A thought struck her. "How's the car?"  
  
"Totaled. Gone. Vamut. It's crushed beyond recognigtion."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"No. But Dad said I don't get it back, and he sold it."  
  
"Already?"  
  
"Well, yeah. It's a brand-new Porsche, only been driven once."  
  
"But it was in a crash."  
  
"So it's a fixer-upper. Whoever got it just got a brand-new Porsche for four thou plus new parts. That's still maybe ten thou less than they would have paid."  
  
"Okay." Lorelai was satisfied. She laid back down and watched Christopher's chest rise and fall as he breathed in and out. In. Out. Rise. Fall. In. Out. Christopher was wearing a light blue button-down shirt with the first few buttons unbuttoned. The collar slipped and Lorelai saw his cut. She sat up and looked at it more closely. She looked up at Chris with tears in her eyes. They shared a look and then a kiss. 


	5. Holidays

Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter Five: Holidays  
  
Dislcaimer: I own not the Gilmore Girls, and I hardly own the situations.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
October passed without much more excitement. Lorelai and Christopher went to a party on Halloween, and spent the entire four hours making out in a bedroom upstairs.  
  
November rolled around and with it came Thanksgiving. The Gilmores ate Thanksgiving dinner at the Haydens', Lorelai wearing a new dress, with skintight sleeves to show off her cast-free arm. After dinner, the adults retreated to the study for brandy and boring talks, and Christopher cornered Lorelai and showed her exactly how much he liked her new dress.  
  
December was busy for both of them. With December came the holiday season, Christmas break, and mid-terms. Christopher and Lorelai tried to study almost every night, only studying on the days they were apart. They met up with each other at a mutual friend's house the day after Christmas to exchange Christmas presents. They spent a little while too long there (12 hours) and were both grounded for New Year's Eve. They both snuck out, though.  
  
January started with them waking up in each other's arms on Lorelai's balcony, extremely cold. They jumped up and got dressed, freaked out that their parents would know. Lorelai was extremely freaked out and refused to talk to Christopher for over a month.  
  
In Febuary Lorelai cried into her pillow a lot, but that all changed on Valentine's Day.  
  
  
  
**Lorelai**  
  
  
It's early in the morning. Too early. I need coffee, but my mom was watching me extra closely this morning and I could only sneak three cups. I can't believe school actually starts this early. Whoever thought up the concept of school was on drugs. Hell, all the cheery people here are on drugs. Or at least caffiene. Oh, my god! A single red rose just fell out of my locker. What's the card say? "I love you."  
~~~  
"Oh, my god, Tammy, he loves me!"  
  
"Who?" Tammy snapped her gum and played with her Madonna bangles.  
  
"Christopher!"  
  
Tammy popped her bubble and looked up at Lorelai. "I though you didn't like him anymore cause you guys had sex."  
  
"Shhhh!" Lorelai frantically looked around, hoping no one had heard Tammy. "I was freaked out, but I still like him." Lorelai whispered in the direction of Tammy. "I love him."  
  
"I love you too." The whisper freaked Lorelai out and she spun around to face Christopher's grinning face behind Tammy's. Lorelai discreetly punched her best friend on the shoulder and jumped into Chris's arms.  
  
"I love you." he whispered in her ear.  
  
"I love you too." Lorelai whispered through her tears.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Lorelai's parents went out to dinner with Christopher's parents, so Christopher came over for dinner with Lorelai. They didn't eat much before they went upstairs for dessert. They were lucky enough that Christopher left when he did, because their parents arrived just after that, and they weren't caught. Yet. 


	6. Are You Positive?

Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter 6: Are You Positive?  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Lorelai felt horrible. Her mother had knocked on her door ten minutes ago, and she was still working on getting out from underneath the covers. Emily Gilmore knocked again, and this time slowly pushed the door open. She walked over to where her daughter lay and asked, "Sweetie, are you feeling alright?" Lorelai threw up all over her.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
"Yeah, Tammy, I'm fine now. I think it's some kind of bug. No, I don't think it's gonna make you miss the ball. I still can't believe we have to do that. I know you like it, but I don't. I have my fitting tomorrow afternoon. I know what your dress looks like, they're all the same." Sigh. "Fine, they're not. They all look the same to me. That's probably because you care and I don't. I just want to get out of this hellhole. (A/N: Is hellhole one or two words?) I'm bolting the second I turn eighteen. Or before, if I can. It was horrible spending a whole day here. My mother fussed over me all day long, when she wasn't making sure I knew how unladylike I always am. Yeah, I understand. Go stare at your dress for a few more days. Okay, talk to you tomorrow. Bye." Lorelai hung up the phone. She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. She looked horrible, probably from throwing up all day. Her mother had been nice enough to hold Lorelai's hair once, but after Emily threw up, Lorelai just put it up. Now it was falling down, and Lorelai was in her pajamas at seven in the evening. Someone knocked on her door, and Lorelai pulled it open to reveal Chris and dinner. Lorelai ran to the bathroom.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Lorelai threw up a lot over the next few weeks, mainly in the morning and when she was around any food. Lorelai's monthly visitor, to add to troubles, was late this month, and when she finally told Tammy, her one and only confidante, Aunt Rose was behind by almost a month.  
  
"Really?" Lorelai nodded. "That's not good."  
  
"But, I can't be pregnant!"  
  
"Why not? Are you on the pill?" Lorelai slowly shook her head. "Did you use protection?"  
  
"Yes, of course." Lorelai nodded so emphatically Tammy thought her head would come off.  
  
"Well, you know, they don't always work." Tammy said gently. Lorelai looked shocked. "Chris just might have some powerful swimmers."  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Lorelai got out of the car and looked back at Tammy for support. Tammy nodded and Lorelai walked into the drug store in a little town outside of Hartford, where no one would know her parents. Lorelai strode directly to the feminine hygiene aisle and picked up a pack of pads, some lotion, a bottle of shampoo, a few lipsticks, and a pregnancy test. She gathered her breath and plopped them on the counter in front of the pimply teenager at the cash register. She didn't say a word, just like Tammy said, paid for her purchases, and left the drug store. She got back into Tammy's car, threw her purchases at Tammy and stared at the pregnancy test in her hand. Her fate lay in her hand right now. She hoped to God that it was negative. 


	7. Life As I Know It Is Over

Title: Life As I Know It...  
Chapter 7: ...Is Over  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the Gilmore Girls.  
  
A/N: This is in first person from Lorelai's point of view. It just really works for the story.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Okay, I'm sitting in the bathroom perched on the edge of the bathtub in the middle of the day, just staring at the sink. Well, not really at the sink, but the little piece of plastic perched on the edge of the sink. That little piece of plastic has a little window filled with chemicals that's changing colors right now, and depending on what color it ends up being, my life may or may not be over. I mean, I don't have any idea what I'm gonna do if I'm actually pregnant. Should I keep it? I mean, I'm going to _keep_ it, but should I give the baby up for adoption? But, no, cause I saw this movie about this girl that tried to find her birth mom, and it was long and hard, and she cried a lot, and I don't want that to happen to my baby. So I'm gonna keep it. But do I stay here? This is a crappy place to grow up, I know that for a fact. Maybe I'll leave. Maybe this baby is my ticket out of here. I'll get a job. Not in Hartford, of course. Away from my parents and this life. But I don't wanna leave the state. And with the money I get, I'll--  
  
*Ding!*  
  
My head snaps up as I remember the egg timer and the pregnancy test with a jolt. I'm kind of actually looking forward to having a baby now, but the feeling drains as I push myself up off the tub, leaving me filled with only dread. I stare down at my feet and will them to move. I concentrate on this for a while, just putting one foot in front of the other. I slowly make my way across the huge expanse of the master bathroom, and only look up as I see my feet hit the fluffy rug underneath the sink. I look in the mirror, at the wall, anywhere but the test. I spot the pregnancy test box and happily pick it up, glad for the distraction. I read it again.  
  
"Pee on the stick" blah blah blah "Blue is negative, Pink is positive" blah blah blah "Test is only eighty-two percent accurate" blah blah bl-  
  
"What?! 82%?!!" I yell at the empty bathroom. My voice bounces off the walls comes back at me, and I am glad once again that my parents are gone and I made the servants leave for the day. The news shocks me and I curse myself for not having read the package before I forgot it. I decide to call Chris and make him take me to the gynecologist to get a pregnancy test if this one is positive. So now there is nothing left for me to do but pick up the test and see the results. I pick up the flimsy piece of plastic and wave it around for a couple of minutes before I open my eyes and look. And... it's pink. Pink is positive. I'm pregnant. Omigod, I'm pregnant. I bet if Madonna got pregnant, it'd ruin her career.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
It is now half an hour later, and I am in real clothes, as opposed to the robe I was wearing earlier. I'm sitting in the sitting room, uncomfortably, just waiting for the doorbell to ring. When it does, I jump up, grab my jacket, and land in the front seat of Chris's brand new car. Chris thinks that he's just taking me for a routine check-up. I didn't do much to sway him from that assumption.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Another hour later, the OB-GYN finally comes back into the room with my results. She looks sort of grim, and I know the answer before she says it. Chris and I leave the doctor's office in a stiff sort of silence, and I am very grateful for the silence, however uncomfortable it may be. I get home and my parents are at the table, and I sit with them, carefully omitting details about what I did all afternoon. I am utterly nauseated, and the pate smells disgusting, and I make the mistake of telling Emily, so I am now grounded for a week. I'll wait till after the week to tell them the news. If I don't leave first.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
A week later, I am again sitting uncomfortably in the sitting room, on an uncomfortable couch across from my confused and probably uncomfortable parents. I take a deep breath and launch into my speech.  
  
"I'm pregnant."  
  
Good speech, huh? My parents obviously don't think so, judging by the shocked look on Dad's face and my mother's half-open mouth. I nod and get up. There's nothing else to say. I walk upstairs and think of names for my daughter. I'm having a daughter, I've decided. Not a boy, it's gonna be a girl.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
The next day at school I am ambushed from behind at my locker. Chris drags me into the supply closet that we made out in a few months ago.   
  
"Are you pregnant?" The look on his face is a mixture of rage, fear, and compassion.  
  
"Yes," I say with my head held high, "And it's yours."  
  
"Well, yeah. I knew that. My parents want me to ask you something, but I don't know yet if I'm going to ask it."  
  
"Okay. Whatever."  
  
"Is that why I took you to the doctor last week?"  
  
"Yeah. Thanks for that, by the way."  
  
"Yeah." Chris nods. He has a contemplative look on his face, and I can tell he's thinking of something.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Is--is that our baby in there right now?" He points at my stomach. I nod. He moves closer and moves to touch my stomach. First he looks at me to see if it's okay. When I nod again, he places his hand on my stomach, and then, as the thought hits him, he lowers his head and kisses my stomach. As he comes back up I smile at him for making the effort, and then I give him a hug. He can be really really sweet at times. Somehow I think we'll make it through this. 


	8. Options

Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter 8: Options  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the Gilmore Girls.  
  
Date: June 1984  
  
Lorelai is: 16 weeks along. (That's four months, to all of the English majors.)  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
"Well, Lorelai, you're coming along very well. I just need you to remember to try to stay away from caffeine and stress. The alcohol and smoking I assume you are not partaking in, either?" Dr. Joelle looked at Lorelai mock-sternly.  
  
"Well, Dr. Joelle, I'm not smoking or drinking, and I'm trying as hard as I can to only drink de-caf, but the stress thing is a little harder. You see, my parents' friends are coming over for dinner tonight. Or, their former friends."  
  
"The father's parents, along with the father?"  
  
"Yeah. And they know that I'm pregnant, but I'm afraid they'll be surprised when they, you know, see me. And I'm afraid everyone will fight."  
  
"Ahh. Well, try to steer everyone away from topics that could cause a fight, and wear loose clothes, so no one will know."  
  
"Okay, thank you, doctor."  
  
"No problem, Lorelai. You can go now. Don't forget to schedule another appointment with Laura."  
  
"Okay, thank you."  
  
Lorelai hopped off of the table and headed home, dreading the impending dinner.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
"Christopher, you are going to do the right thing! Now take the ring."   
  
Francine Hayden shoved the velvot box under Christopher's nose. He plucked it out of her hand and got out of the car, shoving the box deep into his jacket pocket as he stalked to the Gilmores' front door. His parents were right behind him.   
  
"Be nice," they hissed to each other, before putting on big fake smiles and ringing the bell. Emily, in an identical big fake smile, answered the door and ushered the threesome into the sitting room.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Lorelai walked slowly down the stairs, hoping that the dress she had on was loose enough. She was hardly showing, but if she wore jeans, you could see a slight bump, and she didn't want the Haydens to yell. Her breath caught in her throat as she caught sight of Christopher. He had been avoiding her and now she was too embarrased to talk to him. She gathered all of her strength and resolve and rounded the corner into the sitting room.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
The Haydens looked up as Lorelai walked into the room. She got a champagne glass with water and sat down on the love seat next to Christopher. The couch with the Gilmores were on one side, the couch with the Haydens on the other. No one talked. No one moved. They hardly breathed. Then Francine looked pointedly at Chris, and he slid off the love seat to a kneeling position in front of Lorelai. All three of the Gilmores gasped.  
  
"Lorelai, will you marry me?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
The adults gasped.  
  
"Uh, whaddya mean, 'why?'" Christopher stammered.  
  
"I mean, are you only doing this because it's 'the right thing to do'?" Lorelai added air quotes. "Or are you doing this because you really think we should get married?"  
  
"Uh...."  
  
"Because, personally, I think that we are not old enough to get married. We're not ready. I don't think we should. I think we should wait. Get through the pregnancy, if we can, wait till the baby's a little older and we're ready, and then, if we're still together, you can propose again. So no thank you right now."  
  
Christopher was entirely lost. "Uh, Mom? What do I do now?"  
  
"I don't know. If this horrible little--"  
  
"Horrible? Don't talk about my daughter like that!..."   
  
Lorelai went upstairs, dug in her closet for her supply of junk food, and sat on her bed munching on a Hershey bar. 


	9. Stars Hollow

Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter 9: Stars Hollow  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the Gilmore Girls.  
  
Month: August  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Six months pregnant and miserable, Lorelai feebly lifted her sticky hair off the back of her neck. She was driving in her car with the top down to the small town about twenty minutes outside of Hartford where she got all of her junk food craving needs fulfilled. But today as she slowed down near the grocery store, she noticed it was unusually dark. She got out of the car and checked the small sign posted in the window.  
  
**

Closed for the Jones wedding  
Sorry, Lorelai

**  
  
"Dammit!" Lorelai swore underneath her breath. She then immediately felt affection for the friendly store owner she had come to know over the past four months. She remembered that Jones was the name of the mayor. The mayor's son was getting married to a girl he had been friends with since childhood. Lorelai wiped a tear running down her cheek with her handkerchief she had bought when her mood swings had started. Suddenly hyper and in need of coffee ice cream, she got back in her car and headed farther away from Hartford.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Lorelai pulled up in front of a sign boasting "STARS HOLLOW" about ten minutes later. She drove down the main street until she reached a market.  
  
"All right!" She parked her car and entered the store. She gathered about six pints of ice cream, two of which were coffee, a few packs of Twizzlers, and a jumbo Snickers and dropped them in front of the only open cash register. The portly older man behind the cash register scowled at her purchases and her stomach. Lorelai paid and picked up the three bags. The ice cream caused the bags to be a bit heavy, and Lorelai had a little bit of trouble carrying them out of the store. It didn't help matters when someone opened the door and hit her, causing her to drop all of her purchases and fall flat on the ground.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
"My baby. Is my baby okay?"  
  
Even before she opened her eyes, Lorelai inquired about the most important thing in the world to her.  
  
"Yeah, as far as I can tell, your baby's fine." A male voice responded hesitantly.  
  
"'As far as you can tell'?! What the hell kind of doctor are you?"  
  
"I'm not a doctor." The confused voice responded.  
  
"Oh." Lorelai softened and opened her eyes. "Wow." She looked up at a slightly rugged face set above a flannel shirt.  
  
"Uh, I can see the mood swings." The boy said good-naturedly.  
  
Lorelai laughed. "Yeah, I've been noticing them too. Uh, not to be rude, but do you have any ice water?"  
  
The boy promptly handed her a glass from the bedside table.  
  
"Thank you. Oh, and can you answer a few questions?"  
  
"Shoot."  
  
"Who am I?"  
  
"Uh, I....Well, you see, I--"  
  
"It's okay. I know who I am." Lorelai laughed again. There was a pause. "What?"  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"Oh! Duh! I'm Lorelai Gilmore. And you are-?"  
  
"Luke Danes." They shook hands.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Luke. But I've got one more question. Where are we?"  
  
"Stars Hollow."  
  
"I know that. Where in the town?"  
  
"My room." Luke blushed.  
  
"Okay, thank you, Luke. I think I'm going to head home now."  
  
"Okay. Do you need any help?"  
  
"No, I don't think so. Uh, where's me car? And my groceries?"  
  
"Your groceries are in the freezer, and your car is still near Doose's."  
  
"Doose's?"  
  
"The market. I'll carry your groceries for you."  
  
"Okay. That would actually be a big help. Thank you."  
  
"No problem."  
  
The couple walked through the house and retrieved Lorelai's groceries from the kitchen. Luke helped Lorelai down the steps and continued holding her arm as they walked the few short blocks to the market. Luke loaded Lorelai's groceries into her trunk.  
  
"Don't forget to get someone to help you get those into your house."  
  
"I won't." Lorelai shielded her eyes against the sun. "Thank you again, Luke. For all your help. Although not for the actual incident. I didn't appreciate that as much." She laughed to show it was a joke. Luke laughed with her. Then Lorelai had a thought. "Luke, do you think you could show me around the town? You can ride in my car, and it'll just be a short tour. It seems like a nice town."  
  
"Uh, sure." Luke got in the passenger seat and Lorelai started the car. They drove slowly through the town.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
the first time they stopped, they stopped at this two-story house, that wasn't that big compared to her digs now, but it looked like a pretty good size. And not that bad. Lorelai even got out of the car and walked up the steps. She rang the doorbell and looked back to see Luke ducked as far down as he could be. She turned back to the door and rang the bell again. A woman came out of the house next door.  
  
"No one lives there, sugar!"  
  
"Excuse me?" Lorelai whirled to face the woman.  
  
"No one lives there. Well, a couple owns it, but they left it a long time ago. I'm Babette, by the way." She held out her hand. "Who are you?"  
  
"Lorelai."  
  
"Nice to meet you Lorelai. Why are you here anyway?"  
  
"Just looking at the house."  
  
"Oh, okay. When are you due, sweetie?"  
  
"What?"  
  
Babette pointed at Lorelai's stomach.  
  
"Oh! Uh, November."  
  
"Ooh, you got the bad months." Babette looked at the house. "Oh, I gotta go, sweetie, but I'll see you later, okay?"  
  
"Okay," Lorelai responded hesitantly.  
  
"Okay, bye-bye sweetie!" And with that Babette retreated into her house. Lorelai made her way back to the car.  
  
"This is a weird town." She mused while putting on her seatbelt.  
  
"No shit."  
  
"Why, Luke, you bad boy, you." Lorelai teased.  
  
"Sorry about that." Luke blushed again.  
  
"Oh, it's fine. I cuss all the time."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Well, not quite with that potty mouth, but--" Lorelai laughed as Luke playfully hit her on the shoulder for teasing him. They continued on their tour.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
The second time they stopped was in front of Independence Inn. Lorelai stayed in the car this time, but stared in awe at the beautiful building and what looked like happy guests. She also noted the small flowered (or ivyed--whatever) shed in the back, just barely visible from their spot in the parking area. She stored the two stops in her memory somewhere, and dropped Luke out in front of Williams Hardware before driving back home to Hartford.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Lorelai enlisted the help of the cook's assistant in getting her ice cream into the freezer. She kept one of the coffee ice cream pints for herself, grabbed a spoon from the silver cabinet, and carried both up to her room with a few fluff magazines. She lay on her bed in a bathing suit with two ice cubes on her stomach with three fans blowing at her as she read the magazines and spooned ice cream into her mouth. She felt it was the perfect end to a perfect day. At least, as far as perfect could be in her world of teenage pregnancy with an uninterested boyfriend. But she didn't think about that then. She thought about cool springs, and snow, and rain, and cold winds, and babbling brooks, and waterfalls, and then she had to go to the bathroom again. Her baby was tap-dancing on her bladder. 


	10. Irritations, Complications, and Distract...

Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter 10: Irritations, Complications, and Distractions  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the Gilmore Girls. Or the Bangles  
  
Month: September, 1984.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
_Six o'clock already I was just in the middle of a dream  
  
I was kissing Valentino by a crystal-blue Italian stream  
  
But I can't be late cause then I guess I just won't get paid  
  
These are the days when you wish your bed was already made  
  
Just another Manic Monday (Oh-e-oh)  
  
I wish it was Sunday (Oh-e-oh)  
  
Cause that's my fun day (Oh-e-oh)  
  
My I don't have to run day (Oh-e-oh)  
  
It's just another Manic Monday_  
  
  
  
Lorelai stopped the car and ejected the tape. The Bangles song had been her anthem for the past few days, even though it wasn't Monday.  
  
It was the first week of her senior year, and Lorelai was seven months pregnant. She got a lot more attention now that she was a whale than she'd ever gotten as a cute perky junior. Depending on her mood, she either glared at everyone or smiled. She was glaring a lot.  
  
But even the glare was dropped as Lorelai glanced Christopher at his locker. Although, she was walking around the area his locker was in, even though her locker was at the other end of the school.  
  
He turned around and his eyes caught hers, and she felt like a deer in the headlights. She spun tail and waddled as quickly as she could in the opposite direction. But she'd been spotted.  
  
"Lor! Lor, wait up!" Chris jogged up to her in a matter of seconds. She continued waddling. "Lorelai, talk to me."  
  
"No."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I don't know." Lorelai suddenly stopped waddling as she burst into tears.  
  
"Lorelai, it's okay. Now, why haven't you talked to me in forever?"  
  
"Cause I thought you were ashamed of me."  
  
Chris snorted. "What gave you that idea?"  
  
"Cause you haven't talked to me in two months."  
  
"My parents sent me away."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Yeah. My parents are still kinda sore with me about the whole thing, so they sent me away to this boarding school summer camp thing."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Oh, that's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me." Lorelai hugged Chris tightly. Chris laughed and kissed Lorelai on the forehead before seperating her so they could get to class. Lorelai blew kisses at him all down the hall.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
To show exactly how much he wasn't ashamed of her, Chris took Lorelai to that night's football game. Chris treated, so Lorelai bought out the concession stand. Then they edged through many, many thousands of people (or so it seemed) to squeeze into a seat that was hardly big enough for one person, and certainly not big enough for two and a half people. The couple next to them moved and let them have their seats. (A/N: Was that utterly confusing?) Lorelai munched away on a big swirl of cotton candy while Chris munched away on a box of popcorn. Then Lorelai decided she wanted the popcorn and made them switch. Chris obliged, hoping to avoid another breakdown like the one she'd had when he picked her up and wanted her to wear a jacket. They settled down to watch the game, and during halftime they got up and mingled. Lorelai kept running into classmates who wanted to gossip and asked all about the pregnancy.  
  
"When are you due?"  
  
"What're you gonna name it?"  
  
"Are you gonna keep it?"  
  
"Is it Christopher's, or someone else's?"  
  
The girls shreiked and giggled at the last question and headed off before Lorelai had a chance to answer anything. She headed back to Chris to watch the rest of the game.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Lorelai walked into the house a few hours later exhausted, sweltering hot, and bored out of her mind. She didn't like football, couldn't follow it, didn't wanna. And Chris had insisted on going over the entire game play-by-play. But now she was home, and she could collapse. She was planning to, but she saw a light on in the sitting room. Lorelai was surprised to see her parents up.  
  
"Hello, Lorelai. Did you have a good time?" Richard lowered the newspaper at his daughter's entry.  
  
"No." Lorelai answered flatly.  
  
"I must say, Richard, this is a rare occasion. We are actually awake and present when our daughter is coming in from a date. And with Christopher Hayden, no less!"  
  
"Mom, let it drop. I get it. We all get it. You don't like Christopher that much."  
  
"Yes, well, certainly not as much as you like him."  
  
"Just drop it, okay!"  
  
"Alright." Emily reluctantly agreed when Lorelai's mood swung severly. Lorelai sighed and plopped down on the couch.  
  
"I'm sorry, Mom."  
  
"It's alright, dear. Your mother was much worse when she was pregnant."  
  
"Richard!"  
  
"Well, it's true Emily."  
  
"You're right." Emily gave in and laughed. Lorelai feebly laughed along and got up to go to bed. She bid adieu and started across the foyer to the stairs, but she didn't get very far. She stopped in the middle of the foyer and held onto the table as a sharp pain shot across her stomach. She grimaced and continued as it faded. But the next one hit harder about two seconds later and this time she had nothing to hold onto. She cried out in pain and fell to the floor. Her parents rushed over.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
A few hours later, Lorelai was lying in a hospital bed in Labor and Delivery with machines strapped to her stomach and an IV in her arm. Dr. Joelle entered the room to explain.  
  
"Okay, Lorelai, here's the deal. You went into premature labor. That is not good, because if your baby were to be delivered right now, he or she would only weigh about four pounds and their major organs would not be fully developed."  
  
"That's bad."  
  
"Yes, Lorelai, that is bad. But the good thing is, we were able to stop the labor with medicine. We are going to keep you overnight for observation, but that's merely a precaution. I am, however, going to request that you cut out anything in your life that is the least bit stressful or physically exerting. Do you think you can do that?" The doctor looked down his nose and over his glasses at Lorelai. She bit her lip and thought, and then nodded. "Good. Okay, now. You need to rest, but you have one visitor first."   
  
Dr. Joelle's eyes gleamed with the look of a mischevious child who knows what your birthday present is but can't tell you as he backed out of the room. Before the door closed all the way, a hand with flowers poked through. Then the rest of the body came into the room, and Lorelai smiled at Christopher.  
  
"Chris!"  
  
"Lor." Chris presented the flowers, and then drew a box of chocolates and a coffee cup from behind his back. "Sweets to the sweet."  
  
"Coffee!" Lorelai's eyes lit up like a little kid's at Christmastime. "But, is it decaf?"  
  
"Yes." Chris laughed. Lorelai drank the entire contents of the plastic cup and pointed it at Chris.  
  
"More, please? For the baby."  
  
"Oh, yes, of course for the baby. If you don't slow down, this baby is gonna be addicted to coffee just like you."  
  
"Too late!" Lorelai yelled to his back as he exited the room. She leaned back on her pillows and sighed. This was gonna be good. Being waited on hand and foot by a cute boy.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
On Saturday, after she was released by the prison they call a hospital, Lorelai was treated to a movie by Christopher. Lorelai snuggled up to Christopher throughout the movie (which was a total chick flick), only occasionaly stealing popcorn. She felt safe and secure and complete, with her boyfriend and her baby. On Sunday Christopher brought Lorelai a Bangles record, and they listened to that all day. On Monday, Lorelai did not feel like going to school, and she didn't feel like going to school ever again. So she dropped out. On Monday she dropped out. Just like that. She told her mom it was doctor's orders, called the school to tell them to piss off, and laid in bed all day. Finally, a weekday agenda she could handle. 


	11. I Think We're Alone Now

Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter 11: I Think We're Alone Now  
  
Disclaimer: Do I own Gilmore Girls? No. Do I own Tiffany, the singer, or "I Think We're Alone Now", her song? No. Neither does she. It's the Shondells. Anyway, this might not be historically accurate, but who cares?  
  
This is a dream. This is only a dream.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
A very _un_-pregnant Lorelai and an equally trim Chris grinned at each other across the room. Both fifteen, they were at a twenty-year reunion of some dumb-ass thing. "I Think We're Alone Now" by the Shondells was playing in the background, and had the teenagers been paying attention, they would have caught sight of their drunk mothers singing along. But they could only see each other. They edged closer, and the chorus came from someone.  
  
"Children behave!"  
  
"And watch how you play!"  
  
"They don't understand," Chris muttered to Lorelai. They giggled and headed out of the room. Once they hit the door they started sprinting toward freedom, holding onto one another's hands. They made it to the backyard, and Lorelai spun around, making her five-hundred-dollar-sit-down-only-dress flare out. Chris laughed at her, and then grabbed her and put his hands around her waist. They fell over, laughing giddly together, and then Chris said,  
  
"I think we're alone now. There doesn't seem to be anyone around. I think we're alone now. The beating of our hearts is the only sound."  
  
Lorelai stood up and started singing to him.  
  
_"Children behave!"  
  
That's what they say when we're together  
  
"And watch how you play!"  
  
They don't understand and so we're  
  
Running just as fast as we can  
  
Holding onto one another's hand  
  
Trying to get away into the night  
  
And then you put your arms around me and we tumble to the ground and then you say  
  
"I think we're alone now  
  
"They're doesn't seem to be anyone around  
  
"I think we're alone now  
  
"The beating of our hearts is the only sound."_  
  
Chris pulled Lorelai on top of him, laughing. 


	12. Doing Splits on a Crate of Dynamite

Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter 12: Doing the Splits on a Crate of Dynamite  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the Gilmore Girls, cause I'm really stupid and I could never think of it on my own, and I didn't start watching it till the reruns of the first season. And I still missed the season finale. Why? Who knows?  
  
A/N: It's here! It's really here! This is the highly aniticipated labor of Lorelai and birth of Rory! Yay! (Oh, and there's a lot of cussing in this story from the mouth of the sailor-on-leave herself: Lorelai.)  
  
  
  
~~~~~  
  
  
  
**November 7, 1984  
11:00 pm**  
  
Lorelai lay sprawled across her bed with the covers up to her chin. Within two seconds she threw the covers on the floor. She rolled over and out of the bed. She paced around the room. She was miserable and fat. Very fat. Her ankles were huge. The only thing she could do was lay around, but that got tiring after a while, and she always got her second wind about the time she should have been drifting off to dream-land. She decided to grab some ice cream and drift off to TV land.  
  
Lorelai wrapped her robe almost all the way around herself and waddled over to the door. She was turning the knob when there was a knock on her window. She turned around to see Christopher.  
  
Lorelai hadn't seen Christopher since his birthday party. She'd spent the entire four hours in his room, and only came down once, to find Christopher slow-dancing with the town slut. Incredibly hurt, she'd avoided him since. And now here he was, on her doorstep, so to speak. She headed over to the window and pushed it open.  
  
"Lor, I gotta talk to you."  
  
"Fine. What do you want?"  
  
"Well, I've got some news."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"I'm moving to California."  
  
"What? Why?"  
  
"Well, Dad started talking about going to Princeton, and I just started freaking out, and so I'm leaving."  
  
"You mean you're going by yourself?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess I'm running away."  
  
Lorelai stepped onto the balcony and looked down to see Christopher's car of the week with boxes stacked in the backseat. She stared, shocked, at Christopher, and then back at the car. It felt like someone was stabbing her in her chest. Tears were running down her face and Chris took her into his arms. The feeling in her chest subsided, but it was replaced by the same feeling in her stomach. She gasped and leaned closer to Chris. They both gasped as her water broke and flowed down her legs. Chris sprang into action and led her through the window to her room, and then down the stairs, out the front door, into his crowded car. He started the Rolls-Royce and sped out of the driveway.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Emily ran into the hospital.  
  
"Lorelai Gilmore?" she demanded.  
  
"Yes, just a second. Please sit down in the waiting area." The receptionist, on the phone, spouted the standard response and waved vaugely to the area behind Emily. Emily would not tolerate that.  
  
"My baby girl is having a baby! Now where the hell is Maternity?" Emily pressed the button on the phone that disconnected it. The receptionist, used to this kind of abuse, pointed to the sign behind her listing the departments and floors. Maternity was on the fifth floor, so Emily headed to the elavator, Richard trailing behind her.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Christopher was in pain. Lots and lots of pain. His hand felt like it was broken. Lorelai's contraction passed and she released his hand. He rubbed it for only a few seconds before Lorelai grabbed it back. She used it to slap Christopher in the head about fifty times.  
  
"I hate you! You had sex with me, you son of a bitch, and now I'm lying on this goddamn table with my legs spread as far apart as they can be so I can squeeze a pot roast out of an acorn! Now get the fuck out of my sight! You're pissing me off!"  
  
"Okay." Christopher turned tail and ran out of the room, almost running into Emily. Emily looked at Chris and started yelling at him for putting her baby through all of this pain. Chris sank into a chair and tried to tune her out.  
  
Meanwhile, in what was Lorelai's hell, Dr. Joelle came in with another man.  
  
"Lorelai, this is Dr. Bookter. He's going to be giving you an epidural."  
  
"Oh, so you guys are finally getting off your asses and making my stay here comfortable?"  
  
"Ah, the joys of motherhood." Dr. Bookter laughed to Dr. Joelle.  
  
"Yeah, ha-ha, it's so funny. Shut up!!!"  
  
Dr. Joelle headed out of the door. A nurse came in and handed Lorelai a cup of ice chips. Lorelai threw a handful at her, and then at Dr. Bookter as he came closer.  
  
A few minutes later, Lorelai was totally in love with him. She smiled dazedly at him as he walked out of the door and Dr. Joelle walked in.  
  
"Okay, Lorelai, it's time to push."  
  
"God, no."  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
What seemed like hours and yet minutes later, a little bundle of blankets was placed in Lorelai's arms. She stared into her daughter's eyes with nothing but love.  
  
"Do we have a name?" A smiling nurse asked.  
  
"Demerol."  
  
"A real name."  
  
"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore."  
  
"For the baby?"  
  
"Yes, for the baby. Men name their children after themselves, why can't I?"  
  
"Okay." The nurse copied the name onto the birth certificate and left the room. Lorelai looked at little Lorelai. Little Lorelai yawned and closed her eyes. Lorelai followed suit.  
  
  
  
~~~~~  
  
  
  
Christopher slowly pushed the door open, remembering the last time he'd been in the hospital with Lorelai. He caught glimpse of his daughter in Lorelai's arms and edged over to her. He pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed and just stared at the two of them sleeping. Lorelai opened her eyes.  
  
"Hi." She whispered softly, surprised to see Chris.  
  
"Hi." He whispered back.  
  
"You wanna hold her?" Lorelai held the baby closer to Chris. Chris took her.  
  
"What's her name?"   
  
"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore. But I'm gonna call her Rory." They were silent for a few minutes. Chris's eyes never left Rory's face as he rocked her slowly in his arms. "I thought you were going to California."  
  
"Well, I had to see my baby first."  
  
"Are you going to stay?"  
  
"No."  
  
"It's better this way. You can do what you need to do without having to worry about a family."  
  
"What are you going to do, Lorelai?" Chris stopped rocking.  
  
"I've got something in mind."  
  
Lorelai's mind flashed back to Stars Hollow and the Inn, and she knew what she had to do. 


	13. Lies, Cries, and a New Life

Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter 13: Lies, Cries, and a New Life  
  
Disclaimer: Well, I'm going to shock all of you right now and tell you the truth. No, I do not own the Gilmore Girls. Whoo, it's nice to get that off my chest.   
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
"Um, excuse me, what time do I get discharged tomorrow?" Lorelai asked the nurse that brought Rory. Lorelai had her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone, and her mother's incessant voice was babbling on the other end.  
  
"Ten o'clock." The nurse promptly responded with a smile.  
  
"Okay, thank you."  
  
The nurse nodded and left the room. Lorelai waited until she was sure the nurse was out of hearing distance and then lowered her hand from the phone.  
  
"I get discharged at noon tomorrow, Mom."  
  
"Really? That seems awfully late in the day."  
  
"It's only noon, Mother. It's not like it's seven at night."  
  
"Well, I guess you're right. So I'll see you tomorrow at noon."  
  
"Right."  
  
"Okay, good night, Lorelai."  
  
"Good night. Oh, and Mom? I love you."  
  
Emily, shell-shocked, responded with the same, bid good night to her granddaughter, and hung up the phone. Lorelai hung up the receiver. She bit her lip. She'd lied to her mom many times before, but for some reason this felt a thousand times worse. Of course, she was planning to run away, so that might be part of it. Lorelai kissed Rory on the cheek and picked the reciever back up. She dialed the number that was burned into her memory. After three rings a very familiar voice answered the phone.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hi."  
  
"Lor? What's wrong? Is the baby okay?"  
  
"Oh, she's fine. I actually need to ask you something, Chris."  
  
"Yeah, what is it?"  
  
"Can you pack me a suitcase, bring it to me tomorrow at quarter to ten, and then take me to a small town outside of Hartford at ten?" Lorelai said in one breath.  
  
"What? Lor, slow down. Breathe."  
  
"Okay." Lorelai took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm running away. I know that you're waiting to go to California after we get out of the hospital, so I was wondering if you could maybe pick me up tomorrow when I'm discharged."  
  
"What about your mom? What do you mean you're running away?"  
  
"I can't live in that house anymore. It's gonna kill me. I found this great Inn about half an hour out of Hartford three months ago, and I figured I could get some kind of job there. But my mom will never let me go, especially with the baby, so I have to do it on my own. I need your help." Lorelai finished meekly, contradicting herself. After a moment's pause and a very deep sigh, Chris responded.  
  
"Okay. What do I have to do?"  
  
"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!"  
  
  
  
~~~~~  
  
  
  
Chris showed up at nine o'clock Sunday morning. He carried a large suitcase into the hospital. Amost mechanically, he rode the elevator and navigated the halls until he made it to Lorelai's private room. He placed the suitcase gently down on a table and quietly walked over to the side of the bed where Lorelai lay sleeping. He gently kissed her forehead and she awoke.  
  
"What time is it?" she asked sleepily.  
  
"Nine sharp." he pronounced proudly.  
  
Lorelai opened the suitcase to find half her clothes stuffed in it. She extracted an almost unwrinkled shirt and some jeans and exited into the bathroom. Chris nervously danced on his toes. He tried to calm down and plopped down into a hard plastic chair. The second he did so, a nurse backed into the room with a rolling plastic box with no top and a pile of blankets inside it. Chris jumped up and then noticed the blankets were moving.  
  
"Is that--uh--is that my daughter?"  
  
The nurse nodded at what was certainly not the first nervous father she'd seen since her shift started an hour ago. She lifted the bundle of blankets into Chris's arms and left the room. It was time for her break. Chris looked at his daughter's face for only the second time. He still couldn't believe that she was his. She looked beautiful--exactly like Lorelai. Chris slowly rocked the restless baby, and in a matter of minutes, she was sleeping peacefully in his arms. He slowly sank into the chair behind him, trying not to move too much.  
  
Lorelai took a long shower. She put on her clothes. She felt almost free. She didn't have to wear elastic clothes anymore! She wasn't quite to what her original weight was, but she had time. She brushed her hair and left it down and wet. She pulled open the door and glanced Chris and Rory. She edged over to them and kissed Chris on the forehead. His head popped up and he smiled.  
  
"Ready to go?"  
  
"Just a sec." Lorelai held up a finger and dug through the suitcase on the table. She pulled out a newborn outfit and waved it at Chris.   
  
  
  
~~~~~  
  
  
  
Lorelai was squashed in the back of the Rolls next to Rory in her car seat and Chris's boxes. Rory was dressed in the newborn outfit. Lorelai thought she looked so cute, especially since she was sleeping. Lorelai rested her head on the car seat and closed her eyes. She opened her eyes a few seconds later to find the car stopped in front of a hardware store. A slightly familiar hardware store. She lifted her head up and glanced at the name. Williams Hardware. Where did she know that name? She glanced around and noticed the area she was in looked familiar. She wondered where she was, how it looked familiar, and...where the hell was Christopher?  
  
Her question was answered seconds later as Christopher and a boy a few years older than him stepped out of the hardware store. The boy pointed out directions to Chris. Lorelai looked at the boy more closely and remembered him. What was his name? Duke? She decided to go with that. She made sure Rory was still asleep, got out of the car, and made her way over to the boys.  
  
"Hi, Duke." Lorelai addressed the boy. The boy nodded and continued giving Chris directions. Chris, however, paused and looked back and forth between "Duke" and Lorelai.  
  
"You know each other?" Chris asked, completely interrupting the directions.  
  
"Yeah," Lorelai answered before the boy had a chance to register the question, "I met Duke here a couple of months ago when I visited the town."  
  
"Actually, my--"  
  
"Really? And is that why you wanna move here so badly?"  
  
"No. You're being paranoid."  
  
"Am I?"  
  
"Ooh, how cryptic! 'Am I?'" Lorelai imitated Chris.  
  
"Well, am I?"  
  
"Are you what?"  
  
"Am I--am I--I don't know."  
  
"Ha! I got you, I got you, I got you." Lorelai did a little victory dance to go with her song.  
  
"So anyway! You take a right after that and you're there." The boy finished the directions. "Yeah, that's pretty much it. You're welcome, young man," the boy shook Chris's hand, "and I'll probably be seeing you around, so you're welcome too." The boy shook Lorelai's hand and went back into the hardware store. Lorelai and Christopher walked back to the car. Lorelai stood at the driver's side door with her hand out. The couple conducted a short argument with only their eyes (boy were they perfect for each other) and Chris gave in, handing his keys to a now giddy Lorelai. Chris tried to get in the passenger side. Lorelai shook her head and pointed to Rory. Chris sighed and got into the backseat next to the sleeping baby. Lorelai slid into the car, started it, and sped off as slowly as she could, so as not to wake Rory.  
  
  
  
~~~~~  
  
  
  
Chris set Lorelai's suitcase at her feet.  
  
"Well, good luck." Lorelai looked away as she said it, because there was a tear in her eye and she didn't have an arm to wipe it away. Chris put his hand on her chin and steered her face toward his. He wiped the tear away.   
  
"Good luck to you too." Chris leaned in close and kissed Lorelai softly on the lips. They parted but remained close and Chris leaned down and kissed Rory on the forehead. "You, too, little one." He straightened up and the couple shared a sad smile before Chris turned and walked down the Inn steps to the Rolls. Lorelai picked up the car seat, stuck it under her arm, picked up her suitcase, and struggled to open the door. She entered the Inn and gazed around in wonderment. She dropped her suitcase and the car seat at her feet. She noticed someone who looked like they were in charge and marched over to her.  
  
"I'm here for a job. Any job." 


	14. Settling In

Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter 14: Settling In  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own the Gilmore Girls; sorry to disappoint you.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
**Week 2**  
  
Lorelai unlocked the door to her apartment. She backed into the room, her arms filled with a pack of diapers, a roll of fabric, and Rory in her car seat. Lorelai threw the keys on a table near the door and dropped the diapers and fabric. She picked her way through the clothes strewn all over the floor and dropped the car seat softly on her bed and picked up the ringing phone.  
  
"Hello?" she answered wearily.  
  
"Lorelai, this is your father." _Dad, this is your daughter_, Lorelai thought but didn't say.  
  
"Hi, Dad." Lorelai started rocking the car seat on the bed, trying to get the screaming baby to calm down.  
  
"Uh, hello." There was an awkward pause.  
  
"Dad, why'd you call?" Lorelai cut to the chase; she had things to do.  
  
"To get you to come home."  
  
"Wow, Dad, right to the point. Mom's not in the room, huh?"  
  
"Uh, no, she's not. But we both want you to come home."  
  
"I know." Another, longer pause.  
  
"Are you coming?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Dad, I already told you. I need to do this for me. And I'm sorry, but right now, I can't come home."  
  
"Alright." Richard sighed. "Goodbye, Lorelai."  
  
"Bye." Lorelai hung up the phone. She looked at the now sleeping Rory. She unbuckled the car seat and lifted Rory out. Rory fussed and Lorelai rocked her as she looked around her apartment. It was actually the potting shed behind the Inn. Mia, the owner of Independence Inn, had surprised Lorelai with it only a few days before. There was a bathtub behind a curtain and a nice-looking bed that Lorelai had saved from storage. Lorelai's suitcase stood in the back, empty, and her clothes were in a modest little dresser, with one drawer pulled out for Rory. Lorelai placed Rory on top of the piles of baby clothes and blankets. Rory moved a little but settled down, and Lorelai relaxed for the first time in twenty hours. She collapsed on the bed. She had gotten almost no sleep for two weeks. Rory slept all day and played all night, the opposite of Lorelai.  
  
  
  
~~~~~  
  
  
  
**Week 5**  
  
Lorelai spent her free time for five weeks making a dress for herself and one for Rory, and now the moment of truth was here. She boarded a bus for Hartford, spending the trip staring at the sleeping Rory and seeing Christopher. Lorelai steeled her nerves and entered the Gilmore house, handing her coat, Rory's coat, and the car seat to the maid who opened the door. She then carried cute little half-awake Rory through the house, navigating the halls without looking up. She made it to the large sitting room, and stopped. She kept her eyes on Rory for a minute and then looked up, only to find that she knew no one at the Christmas party. She breathed a sigh of relief and made her way through the crowd to her parents. She heard the whispers but ignored them. Her baby, her business.  
  
"Lor."  
  
The whisper came near her ear. Lorelai ignored it. He went to California over a month ago. Their parents weren't on speaking terms. It wasn't even Christmas for another two weeks. What would he be doing here? But, still, it sounded just like him. And, maybe it was him. Lorelai spun around to face him, but he wasn't there. Her face fell and she continued toward her parents, passing a waiter with a tray of apple tarts on the way. She grabbed a few and showed one to Rory.  
  
"You will love these, too, if you're really my kid."  
  
Lorelai popped a tart in her mouth and stopped in front of her parents seconds later. They were surprised to see her, and she spent about two minutes chewing before she could swallow.  
  
"Hi."  
  
"What are you doing here?" Emily looked weak and pale.  
  
"I've never missed a Christmas party, I can't stop now. And I brought you a present."  
  
"Really? What?"  
  
Lorelai unwrapped the blanket from around Rory and showed the five-week-old baby in all her glory. She handed her baby to her mother. Emily smiled, and Rory smiled her first smile back.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
**Month 6**  
  
Lorelai woke up at four o'clock in the morning on purpose. She knew that later in the day she'd think she was crazy, but today was important. Lorelai picked the sleeping Rory out of the car seat where Lorelai had left her three hours ago. Rory stretched and yawned. Lorelai waited until three minutes after four, and then whispered, "Happy first half-birthday, baby girl." Rory smiled and Lorelai smiled back.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
**Month 9**  
  
"No, sweetie, stay on the bed."   
  
Lorelai, the Inn's brand-new seamstress, was using her brand-new sewing machine to repair a huge hole in a very pretty dress. Rory had recently learned how to crawl and Lorelai knew she couldn't make trouble on the bed, so that's where she stayed. The phone rang, and multi-tasker Lorelai grabbed Rory from going off the bed with one hand and answered the phone in the other.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Lor."  
  
"Chris."  
  
"How's it going?"  
  
"Good."  
  
"How's Rory?"  
  
"Great?"  
  
"Walking yet?"  
  
"Me? Yes, I don't have a car."  
  
"Good for you. Is Rory walking yet?"  
  
"No. Crawling."  
  
"Wow. Good for her."  
  
"Yeah. It's a little hard on her already exhausted mother. I've lost all my baby weight, though."  
  
"Good."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Can I talk to her?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
Lorelai pulled Rory into her lap and held the reciever to her ear. Rory's eyes lit up as she heard Christopher's voice. She said her only word, "Bye-bye" and crawled off. Lorelai lifted the phone to her ear only to hear a dial tone.  
  
"Luv ya, Christopher." Lorelai hung up the phone.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
**Year 1**  
  
Mia threw Rory a birthday party in the Inn's dining room. The big dessert special was a big cake all the guests got. The cook also made Rory a little cake for her to dig into. The staff all showed up at the party; in twos and threes, on their breaks. Rory got presents from all of them, and congratulations from the guests. By the end of the night, when Rory had cake on all of her presents and in her hair, Lorelai decided it was time to take her home.   
  
Lorelai unlocked the door to their apartment, and the girls entered the room, Lorelai loaded down with presents and Rory trailing behind, equally loaded down. Lorelai dropped her pile on a table and Rory dropped her pile on the floor next to the table. Lorelai scooped up Rory and fell on the bed, soliciting a string of giggles from Rory, exactly what she wanted.   
  
"Did you have a good birthday?"  
  
Rory nodded.  
  
"Did you like the party?"  
  
Rory nodded emphatically.  
  
"What'd you like the most?"  
  
Rory thought for a minute. "Cake!" she finally shouted.  
  
"Oh, really?" Lorelai laughed. "Can I take your presents back, then?"  
  
"No!"  
  
"Did you like your presents?"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"What was your favorite?"  
  
Rory walked over to the piles and thoughtfully looked at them. She slowly extracted a velvet jewelry case and opened it. Out spilled a gold locket. Rory stuck it in the pocket of her overalls and patted it. She turned back to the piles and extracted a sparkly pink sweater. She pulled it on and padded back over to the bed where Lorelai lay stretched out looking at Rory.  
  
"You like my present and Daddy's present, huh?"  
  
"Pretty." Rory nodded and stroked her sweater.  
  
"Thank you, sweetie." The phone started ringing. "Oh, the phone's ringing! Do you think I should answer it?" Rory nodded. "Yeah? Okay." Lorelai rolled over the bed and came to a sitting position next to the bedside table and the phone. Rory padded over to the window and looked at the Inn. Lorelai answered the phone. "Hello?"  
  
"Can I speak to Rory, Lor?"  
  
"Christopher, it's midnight! What if we were sleeping?"  
  
"Are you?"  
  
"Well, no, but--"  
  
"I know you too well, Lorelai. Can I talk to Rory?"  
  
"Why are you calling now, anyway? Why not just wait till tomorrow?"  
  
"There was traffic! And besides, tomorrow's not her birthday!"  
  
"What do you mean, there was traffic? Why would that affect your phone call?"  
  
"Daddy!" Rory pointed out the window.  
  
"Yes, sweetie, I'm talking to Daddy."  
  
"Daddy!" Rory jabbed her finger toward the window and jumped up and down excitedly.  
  
"What?" Lorelai ignored Christopher on the other end of the phone and walked over to the window. She saw Christopher standing in a window in the Inn. Lorelai threw the phone down, picked Rory up, and raced out the door.  
  
~~~~  
  
Christopher spent a few days on the couch in the shed. Just when they were getting used to him being there and Lorelai was starting to forgive him, she woke up one morning to find him gone. She was only slightly surprised.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
**Year 2**  
  
Lorelai was promoted to a job at the front desk and bought herself her first dress in two years. Christopher called every Wednesday but Lorelai forbade him to come and disappoint Rory again. He obliged, and Rory's birthday came and went without a sign of Christopher, and Lorelai's heart fell with each passing day.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
**Year 3**  
  
Lorelai and Rory spent nights sitting on a chair outside facing the Inn. They watched the lights of parties and read the complete works of Dr. Suess.  
  
  
  
~~~~~  
  
  
  
**Year 4**  
  
  
  
Lorelai was promoted to desk manager. Rory spent more time on the sofas in the Inn reading books (or just looking at pictures.) The first whole book she read was "Go Dog Go!"  
  
  
  
~~~~  
  
  
  
**Year 5**  
  
Rory headed off to kindergarten with a book under each arm and more in her backpack. Lorelai celbrated her twenty-first birthday and her promotion to assistant manager of the whole Inn the same day. Rory helped celebrate by being her mother's dancing partner to the Bangles and the Go-Go's.  
  
  
  
~~~~~  
  
  
  
**Year 6**  
  
"Hi, sweetie, how was school?"  
  
"Good." Rory settled into her chair behind the front desk at the Inn. "I finished all the Amelia Bedelias in the school library."  
  
"That's great. Hey, don't you wanna know what I did today?"  
  
Rory put down the book she was reading. "What?"  
  
"I got promoted!"  
  
"Mommy! That's great! Why did you let me babble on about Amelia Bedelia? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"  
  
"Oh, never mind about that. Guess what els is happening?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"We're moving to a house!"  
  
"Really? That's wonderful!"  
  
"I know! You wanna go see it?"  
  
"Okay!" Rory put her books away and jumped up.  
  
"Okay! Hey, Jimmy, watch the desk."  
  
"Whatever." Jimmy waved a hand and continued staring at his magazine.  
  
"I can leave in the middle of the day, cause I'm the manager of the Inn."  
  
"That's so cool, Mom."  
  
"I know!"  
  
They squealed and left the Inn. 


	15. Meeting Luke Again

Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter 15: Meeting Luke Again  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Twenty-two-year-old Lorelai and six-year-old Rory walked down the street away from their new house. Lorelai and Rory were elated that they were moving closer to town. To celebrate, they walked down Main Street and stopped in every single one of the stores. They never really came into town; every once in a while they'd stop at Doose's Market for groceries, and Rory walked through on her way to school, but that was pretty much it. The girls stopped in front of an antique store and debated whether or not they wanted to go in. They decided they might as well, and entered Kim's Antiques.  
  
The bell over the door rang, and out of nowhere a Korean woman popped up.  
  
"Hello! Welcome to Kim's Antiques. What do you want?"  
  
"Oh, we're just looking around."  
  
"You're not going to buy something?"  
  
"Uh, maybe."  
  
"Okay. Just remember, you break, you buy." And with that the woman disappeared back into the sea of wood.  
  
Lorelai looked at Rory and raised her eyebrows. Rory giggled. They wandered aimlessly around the store, being very careful not to break anything. They were making fun of a rather large and un-useful looking...thing, when a Korean girl around Rory's age popped up.  
  
"Hi."  
  
"Hi." Rory looked at Lorelai. "Mommy, this is Lane. I know her from school."  
  
"Really? Hi, Lane. I'm Lorelai."  
  
"Hi, Lorelai."  
  
"Mommy, can she come walk around with us?"  
  
"Well, Rory, I don't know. She'll have to ask her mom, first."  
  
Lane disappeared at that. She reappeared a few seconds later with a sorrowful look on her face.  
  
"My mommy says it's time for me to read the Bible." Lane stared at the floor.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry. Maybe you can visit our house sometime."  
  
"Okay!" Lane brightened at Lorelai's comment.  
  
"Lane!" Mrs. Kim called from somewhere in the mess.  
  
"Coming, Momma! Bye, Rory."  
  
"Bye, Lane, see you at school."  
  
"Okay. Bye Lorelai."  
  
"Bye." Lorelai smiled at Lane as she scampered off through the house. Rory was jumping up and down, she was so happy.  
  
"Mommy, it's so cool! We have a new house, and I can invite my friends over! I'm so happy!"  
  
"That's great, sweetie." Rory's jumping caused a vase to fall and break. "That's not so great."  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Lorelai and Rory left the store ten minutes later considerably poorer, but they were still pretty happy. They continued down the street and stopped in front of a diner. They looked at each other.  
  
"Coffee!" they shouted at the same time. They hurriedly opened the door and entered the diner. They raced up to the counter. Lorelai lifted Rory and plopped her on a stool. She then hoisted herself onto the stool next to Rory. There was a man with his back to them behind the counter. They silently counted to three and then yelled "Coffee!"  
  
"Geez! You scared me!" The man behind the counter turned around.  
  
"You!"  
  
"And you." the man said as he placed a cup in front of Lorelai and poured coffee into it. He paused before putting a cup in front of the first-grader. "Uh, do you want her to have coffee?"  
  
"Oh, I don't know Ror, do you want some coffee?" Lorelai turned to Rory.   
  
"Hmm." Rory pretended to think it over. "I guess so."  
  
"Pour it, mister!" Lorelai banged the counter with her hand. "Oh, and can we get two cheesburgers and an order of chili fries?"  
  
"That stuff'll kill you, you know."  
  
"Yeah. Dying sure is fun!"  
  
"Fine." The man sighed.  
  
"By the way, I'm Lorelai, and this is Rory."  
  
"I'm Luke."  
  
"Okay, Duke! Now, hurry man! Bring those delicious foods dripping in even more delicious fat!"  
  
Luke sighed and headed off. Lorelai high-fived Rory and they both sipped their coffee.  
  
  
  
~~~~~  
  
  
  
"Where do you want it?" A large man at one end of Lorelai's bed asked impatiently.  
  
"Uh, up the stairs. The first room to the right." The man nodded and and started climbing the stairs. Lorelai watched the man at the other end of her bed go by and then crossed into the living room. All the furniture was there and covered by large cardboard boxes. She sighed and opened the first box to unpack it. The first thing she pulled out was a picture of Rory on her first day of kindergarten. Lorelai smiled and placed it on the mantle.   
  
"She's the cutest thing there is."  
  
Lorelai spun around.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, honey, did I startle you?" Mia passed by Lorelai on her way to the mantle and squeezed her arm. "She really is absolutely adorable."  
  
"Yeah, she really is. I'm really lucky to have her."  
  
"Speaking of Rory, where is she?"  
  
"Oh, she's over at Babette's, playing with Cinnamon."  
  
"That cat is so spoiled."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Lorelai, I need to tell you something."  
  
"What is it, Mia?"  
  
"Well, I really think that you're one of the best things to happen to the Inn."  
  
"Well, thank you."  
  
"Yes, and I have so much faith in you that I'm leaving."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well, you'll basically be the boss. You'll run the whole Inn, I'll just own it. From far away."  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"California."  
  
"Oh." Lorelai got a pang in her chest. He was in California. She forced a smile. "I can do it."  
  
"Really? That's so great! This is just something I have to do, and I've waited forever, but now I think the Inn's in capable hands."  
  
"Wow. That's quite a compliment."  
  
"It's true." Mia squeezed Lorelai's arm one more time. "Now, I'm heading off to look at houses for a week, but I'm not moving yet. Here's the number of the place I'll be staying if you need me." She handed Lorelai a business card. "I'm going to say good-bye to Rory."  
  
"Okay." Mia smiled and left the house. Lorelai, shocked, sank down onto the couch. She was going to be all alone in the Inn. She was going to have control over basically everything. It was a lot of responsibility. She hoped she could handle it.  
  
Rory came in five minutes later, crying her poor little eyes out. Lorelai pulled her daughter onto her lap and cried with her. They were going to miss Mia. She'd given them a home and Lorelai a job. She'd gotten them to where they were, in a beautiful two-story house with a room for each of them. They were going to miss her. 


	16. A Wild and Out Of Control Second Grader

Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter 16: A Wild And Out Of Control Second Grader  
  
Disclaimer: No, I do not own the Gilmore Girls. I have a tape of it. No, wait, I don't. Never mind!  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  


**A STARS HOLLOW EXTRAVAGANZA!!!!  
If You've Ever Wanted To Go To A Wild And Out Of Control Party,  
NOW IS YOUR CHANCE!!!!!  
Rory Gilmore is having her eight birthday party!!!!  
Clowns, Cake, and Fun Galore!!!!!  
presents mandatory**

  
  
  
  
~~~  
  
  
  
"Hey, birthday girl." Lorelai whispered as she crawled into Rory's bed at three after four on the morning of November eighth, 1992.  
  
"Hey." Rory muttered sleepily.  
  
"You're growing up so fast! You're already eight."  
  
"Yeah." Rory smiled.  
  
"You know, when I was twice your age, I was lying in this same position, oh so long ago..."  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Anyone who passed the Gilmore house that night would have thought some high-school student's parents were out of town and the teenager was throwing a major kegger. It was almost like that, except without the keg. It was a -ger, and since Lorelai was throwing this -ger for cute little Rory, half the town showed up. There were three long tables stacked with presents and a huge stereo blasting some semblance of music. Rory was decked out in her normal birthday party garb of a paper crown and a pink feather boa. Lorelai was wearing a plastic crown and a white feather boa, pronoucing to the world that she should get presents because she "pushed this huge little kid through a tiny little hole oh so long ago." Some people were giving her chocolates wrapped in tissue paper just to get her to shut up. There was a clown who was blowing up balloons and twisting them into shapes, but the shapes weren't recognizable to anyone there. Lorelai found out later that it wasn't a normal cigarette he was smoking. Rory was ripping into her presents when the cops knocked on the door and herded off the guests, warning Lorelai about "disturbing the peace" and arresting the clown for "contributing to the delinquency of minors" (among other things). All in all, it was a fun party, for everyone involved.   
  
  
  
~~~~~  
  
  
  
The day after she turned eight, Rory sat at her kitchen table with Lane opening the presents that she had neglectd to open in the hustle and bustle of the previous night. Rory was regaling Lane with a play-by-play of the party Mrs. Kim had forbade Lane to come to.   
  
"And your mom sang a song?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Was it kareoke?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well, why did she sing?"  
  
"I don't know. I think it was because of all the drinks she had."  
  
"Oh. When I drink too much, it just makes me hafta go to the bathroom."  
  
"Yeah. Mom's kinda silly."  
  
"Hey, there's my wild and out-of-control second grader!" Lorelai kissed Rory on top of the head as she walked into the kitchen. "Having fun?"  
  
"Yep!"  
  
"How 'bout you, Lane?"  
  
"Yeah, I've already gotten four chocolate bars."  
  
"Cool! I hope you're saving the coffee for me, though, Rory."  
  
"Of course, why not?"  
  
"Yeah, you just remember that when I'm old and gray and they say I can't have coffee."  
  
"Okay. Who's they?"  
  
"I dunno, Grandma, probably."  
  
"Okay. Ooh, you wanna help me open my presents?"  
  
"Sure!" Lorelai plunked down into a chair. She grabbed a present and ripped into it. She lifted up the book, oohed at it, and dropped it on the floor to reach for another present.  
  
"No, Mom, you've gotta read who gave it to me and write down the person and what they gave me so I can send out thank-you notes."  
  
"Okay, sweetie." Lorelai planted another kiss on top of Rory's head and reached for another present. 


	17. Seriousness With A Side Of Humor

Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter 17: Seriousness With A Side Of Humor  
  
Disclaimer: No, I'm not adored by thousands of loyal fans, seeing as how I don't own Gilmore Girls.  
  
A/N: Actually, it's more of a question. What does it mean when it's "literati"? Cause I don't know. Anyone wanna help me out?  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
"Ms. Gilmore, there is someone on the phone for you."  
  
"Who?" Lorelai was stacking towels in the Independence Inn, because three of the maids were home sick and they were short-staffed.   
  
"She claims she's your mom."  
  
"My mother?"  
  
"That's what she said."   
  
"Okay, thanks, Frank. I'll get it in a minute."  
  
Frank nodded and headed back to the desk. Lorelai finished putting away the last of the towels and headed for the phone. She sighed and picked it up.  
  
"Hi, Mom."  
  
"Lorelai, I was wondering if you and Rory might want to join us at Martha's Vineyard this summer."  
  
"Well, I don't think I can, but I'm sure Rory will be thrilled to come." Lorelai sorted through the mail on the desk.  
  
"Why can't you?"  
  
"Why can't I what, Mom?"  
  
"Why can't you visit your father and I with Rory?"  
  
Lorelai sighed. "Because I'm the manager of the Independence Inn, and I have been for three years. I can't just drop everything and rush to Martha's Vineyard."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Why not?" Lorelai repeated incredulously. "Mom, I might get fired!"  
  
"Oh. Well, do you think Rory will come?"  
  
"I don't know, you'll have to ask her."  
  
"Okay, I guess I will. Good-bye, Lorelai."  
  
"Bye." Lorelai hung up the phone and started massaging the huge headache that Emily had given her.  
  
"Um, I'm looking for either a Lorelai or a Mia."  
  
Lorelai looked up into the kind eyes of a round young woman. "Oh, I'm Lorelai."  
  
"Hi, Lorelai, I'm Sookie St. James, here for the chef's job."  
  
"Okay, Sookie, if you'll follow me, just lead you to the kitchen."  
  
"Okay, now, I think I've already got the job. I mean, Mia told me I did, but just to make I brought a plate of my magic risotto."  
  
"Okay, well if Mia told you you have the job, you have the job."  
  
"Are you sure you don't want to taste the risotto?"  
  
"Yeah, actually, I'm pretty busy, so..." Lorelai started walking through the Inn. Sookie followed her.  
  
"Oh, but you have to try it. Just in case you have any doubts."  
  
"Mia is the higher order I answer to, so if she says you're hired, you're hired."  
  
"Try it anyway."  
  
Lorelai sighed and turned around, right into a forkful of the magic risotto. "Oh my god! That's amazing!"  
  
"That's why it's my magic risotto! So I've got the job?"  
  
"Well, if you didn't have it already, yeah!"  
  
"Great! Okay, so where's the kitchen? I wanna look around."  
  
"Oh, it's that way." Lorelai pointed.  
  
"Okay." Sookie headed for the kitchen, narrowly missing a tiny table of fine china. "Oops."  
  
"Yeah. So, the kitchen is right through there, and it's state of the art if you ignore the old stuff in it."  
  
"Okay." Sookie headed toward the kitchen. She turned back around and narrowly missed a vase. "I'm a bit of a klutz."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Sookie walked toward the kitchen and got three steps closer before she turned around and slightly missed knocking over a large potted plant.  
  
"Okay, you know what, you should probably just go to the kitchen and stay there."  
  
"Yeah, you're probably right." Sookie finally made it to the kitchen and Lorelai's headache felt like someone was stabbing her in the temple.  
  
  
  
~~~~  
  
  
  
"Lucy, I'm home!" Lorelai yelled as she entered the Gilmore girls' homestead. There was no answer. "Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do." Lorelai said as she walked around the empty living room and kitchen. She noticed Rory's closed bedroom door. "Ah, Ricky has figured out Lucy's escapades. For this week, anyway." With that, Lorelai pushed Rory's door open. Rory and Lane were dancing their problems away. Neither one of them noticed Lorelai, so she closed the door and left the room. She grabbed a pint of Ben and Jerry's and headed into the living room. She searched through the disarray of tapes next to the VCR, finally found one to her liking and popped it in the player. She plopped onto the couch, and as the opening scene of When Harry Met Sally came up, Lorelai started her running commentary.  
  
"'And here in her natural habitat, is the sorta pathetic twenty-five-year-old single mother whose nine-year-old daughter has a more active social life than she does.' Ugh. This is a great Saturday night. Just me, Ben, Jerry, Harry, Sally, and a slutty Princess Leia. Whoopie."  
  
  
  
~~~~~  
  
  
  
"Ugh!" Lorelai threw her purse on the counter at Luke's later that night.  
  
"Ah, Lorelai. Bad day?" Luke asked without looking up.  
  
"Bad month,more like. This decade ends in seven years, right?"  
  
"Yeah." Luke put down the cup he'd been washing. "Coffee?"  
  
"See?"  
  
"What?" Luke paused.  
  
"You have to ask! My life sucks!" Lorelai put her head down on the counter.  
  
"Okay, now I'm really worried. Where's Rory?"  
  
"Oh, you mean my social butterfly daughter? Probably at home with her best friend. I don't even have a best friend! How lame am I?"  
  
"Really lame, cause I haven't heard anyone say the word 'lame' in the past five years."  
  
"Leave me alone. I'm a single mother of a nine-year-old. No wonder I'm out of it."  
  
"Aww. You want some pie?"  
  
Lorelai nodded. "With ice cream on top and a big cup of coffee on the side."  
  
"Right."  
  
"Chocolate ice cream."  
  
"Chocolate ice cream?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"On apple pie?"  
  
"Oh, it's apple pie? Not chocolate, no of course not."  
  
"That's what I thought."  
  
"Strawberry ice cream on the apple pie."  
  
"Whatever. It's your taste buds." Luke headed to the kitchen to get the pie and ice cream. Lorelai sat in the empty diner, a little cheered up. She was getting ice cream, pie, and coffee. And maybe some friendly banter, after she was feeling better. Maybe she wasn't as lame as she thought.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
"I can't believe you've never seen When Harry Met Sally! It's, like, Billy Crystal's best work in a movie! That is, if you exclude the whole 'Miracle Max' scene in The Princess Bride."  
  
"Wow, your knowledge of absolutely trivial movie facts stifles me."  
  
"Lots of big, non-Luke words in that sentence."  
  
"Yeah, I get smarter after ten o'clock."  
  
"Oh, my god, is it after ten?" Lorelai grabbed Luke's wrist. They were sitting on Lorelai's porch. Luke had offered to walk her home over an hour ago. They still hadn't made it inside. "It is after ten, I really oughta get inside."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Whaddya say you come over one night and we'll watch When Harry Met Sally. You know you want to! Princess Leia talking about how she sleeps around....Come on, it'll be fun."  
  
"Well, I guess so."  
  
"Great." Lorelai paused in the open doorway.  
  
"This has been fun Lorelai. Wow, I really never thought I say that sentence."  
  
"Really? Well, I never thought I'd hear Luke 'Mr.-Backwards-Baseball-Cap- Be-Careful-Your-Face-Really-Does-Freeze-Like-That' Danes utter the word 'Aww.' It made my day. Well, g'night!" Lorelai did a nice little kick move in the doorway before heading in and closing it in front of a surprised Luke. She smiled to herself as she hung up her coat and headed for Rory's room where Rory was scrambling for her bed from her nighttime vigil at the window.  
  
"Ah, I see Lucy's been spying on Ricky again. Still afraid those nightclub dancers are going to steal me away?" Lorelai asked as she tucked Rory in.  
  
"Not really. Goodnight, Mom."  
  
"Who's telling me goodnight? It can be Rory, she's been asleep for hours! Goodnight, sweetie." Lorelai smiled and hugged Rory. She flicked off the light and headed out of the room.  
  
"Mom?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Luke 'Mr.-Backwards- Baseball-Cap-Be-Careful-Your-Face-Really-Does-Freeze-Like-That' Danes? I'm nine, and even _I_ know that was lame."  
  
"Yeah, well, moms are lame, and I'm your mother, and even though I admit that I am exceedingly cooler and prettier than your friends' moms--"  
  
"Oh, by far."  
  
"Yes, but I am still your mother, and it is my job to be lame. Tonight was just the continuation of my promise nine years ago that I would do my job every damn day and try to go home happy."  
  
"Glad it's working out for you."  
  
"Me too." Lorelai tried to close the door, but Rory kept talking.  
  
"Grandma and Grandpa invited me to Martha's Vineyard for the summer."  
  
"Shhh, we'll talk about it in the morning."   
  
"Okay. Love you, Mom." Rory said sleepily seconds before the door hit the doorjamb.   
  
"Love you too, Rory, but if you say one more thing or ask for a drop of water, I'm going to throw a Gatorade bucket full of ice cold water on you."  
  
"Go to sleep now. Got it."  
  
"Goodnight, Rory."  
  
"Night, Mommy."  
  
Lorelai finally closed Rory's bedroom door with a big smile on her face. 


	18. Saturday Night At The Movies

Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter 18: Saturday Night At The Movies  
  
Disclaimer: No, I don't own the Gilmore Girls. I'm watching Gilmore Girls right now, and I am so hyper that every little thing is funny, although it's always funny anyway, but now it's, like, hysterical. Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe. Okay, got that out of my system: shutting up now.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~  
  
  
  
"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas... just like the ones I used to know." Lorelai walked around the Inn, singing. The Inn was very Christmas-y, seeing as how it was two weeks till the happy holiday. Lorelai hang garlands while singing and dancing.  
  
"Deck the halls with boughs of holly....Falalalalalalala la..." Lorelai spun around and hit Sookie.  
  
"OOF!"  
  
"Oh, my god, I'm so sorry!"   
  
"Oh, it's okay. I've done worse."  
  
"Are you sure you're okay? I mean, totally sure?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine."  
  
"Completely and absolutely sure?"  
  
"Yes, Lorelai, I am completely, absolutely and totally sure that I am fine. I've done much worse to myself."  
  
"Okay. I just wanted to make sure."  
  
"Yeah, I figured that."  
  
"Okay." Lorelai headed to the desk and picked up her coat and started to head out the door. She paused and turned around and looked at Sookie sitting on the couch. "Hey, Sookie?"   
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"What are you doing tonight?"  
  
"Probably working on next week's menu."  
  
"No, no, you can't work tonight! It's Saturday night! And it's almost Christmas! You're coming home with me." Lorelai headed over to the couch and pulled Sookie up.  
  
"What are we going to do?"  
  
"We're going to have a slumber party!"  
  
"We are?"  
  
"Yeah! I'm sending you home for an hour, but you have to show up on my doorstep exactly at seven o'clock with a healthy appetite for junk food and movies. Ooh, and jammies! You're going to be a part of Lorelai and Rory Gilmore's annual Christmas movie night!"  
  
"O-kay."  
  
"Okay! See you in an hour!" Lorelai ran out of the Inn, leaving a very shocked Sookie to stare after her.  
  
  
  
~~~~~  
  
  
  
Sookie showed up at the Gilmore house at seven on the dot. She rang the doorbell.  
  
"Just a minute!" Lorelai called. "Hey, dancing queen, get the door, will ya?"  
  
"Kay, Mamma Mia!" Sookie heard Rory yell. There was a thud against the door. "Ow!" Rory yelled again. Then the door was slowly pulled open to reveal the ten-year-old in a leotard, tights, and ballet shoes rubbing her left arm.  
  
"Aw, sweetie, what happened?"  
  
"I twirled into the door." Rory said miserably. Lorelai walked down the stairs just in time to hear this. She burst out laughing. Rory turned and glared at her. She shut up.   
  
"Sorry. Hey! Sookie's here! Yay!"  
  
"Okay, should I go get the movies?"  
  
"Well, take Sookie into the living room with the movies and I'll grab the food and meet you there."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Break!" Lorelai called as they headed in opposite directions. Two seconds later, Lorelai dumped a large pile of candy on the coffee table.   
  
"Mom! You covered up the movies!"  
  
"Sorry. I'll find them for you." Lorelai shoved the bags of candy off the table to reveal ten videos.  
  
"Whoa, that's a lot of movies." Sookie looked taken aback.  
  
"Yep, we'll be up till--" Lorelai tried to calculate it in her head--"really _really_ early in the morning."  
  
"Or late afternoon." Rory said.  
  
"Ooh, show her what we've got!" Lorelai poked Rory in the arm.   
  
"I thought you were gonna do that, and, ow."  
  
"You're showing her the movies and I'm gonna interrupt with insane little tidbits from my head and I'm showing her the candy where you interrupt with insane little tidbits, again from my head."  
  
"Okay. Chronological or alphabetical order?"  
  
"Hmm. Alphabetical works better."  
  
"Okay. Number 1: Babes In Toyland." Rory lifted up the video and showed it off.  
  
"But the 1986 version, not the 1961 one, because this one has Gertie from 'ET: The Extra-Terrestial'; Pat, the original hamburger diner owner from 'Happy Days'; and Keanu Reeves, from, like, 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.' Whoa!"  
  
"Like, mind-blowing! Okay, number 2: Holiday Inn."  
  
"Because it's Christmas, and this has the song 'White Christmas,' and it's got Fred Astaire, Rory's idol, and you just need black and white movies at every slumber party." Lorelai nodded seriously. "Ooh! And, you always have to prance around, which we're gonna do when we're watching it, and then we'll take a break after other movies and do it again, and then we'll end the party tomorrow morning by doing another dance in the snow."  
  
"It hasn't snowed yet this season." Sookie pointed out.   
  
"Oh, it will, trust me."  
  
"Trust her. She has a weird sixth sense about snow. She can smell it in the air, just like coffee brewing within a hundred miles--"  
  
"Good coffee." Lorelai interrupted.  
  
"Right,good coffee. Anyway, number 3: Home Alone." Both Rory and Lorelai lifted their hands to their faces and screamed, a la Macaulay Culkin.  
  
" 'Nuff said."  
  
Sookie nodded like she had some idea of what they were talking about.  
  
"Number 4: How The Grinch Stole Christmas." Sookie and Rory looked at Lorelai. She shrugged.  
  
"We needed thirty minutes to kill. I'll let you in on a secret: I pretend like I believe in the whole 'no presents for Christmas thing,' but the truth is, I wake up before Rory does to run to the tree on Christmas morning."  
  
"It's true, she does. Many a year I've woken up to pinches and water on the face. Okay, number 5: Miracle on 34th Street. This one's mine. I've always liked this movie because the six-year-old got to meet Santa Claus."  
  
"Yeah, and the cool thing is, she found it when she was six, which was four years ago, and now it's 199_4_, and a new one's out." Sookie and Rory looked strangely as Lorelai giggled. "What?"  
  
"Number 6: The Muppet Christmas Carol."  
  
"It's not easy being greeeeee--eeeen!" Lorelai hit a high note.   
  
"Is someone shaving a cat while drowning it, cause that's what you sound like."  
  
"Ah, Sookie, you're so sweet."  
  
"Annnnnd, number 7: hehehehehehehehe, I can't stop giggling." The three of them succumbed into giggles for a few minutes. "And..." giggle giggle "...number seven is..." giggle giggle "...National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation."  
  
"That's a pretty ribbon. Yeah." Lorelai started stroking Rory's hair. "What? Shut up, shut up! Don't talk!"  
  
"That's Lenny from 'Of Mice And Men.'" Sookie pointed out.  
  
"Yes, played by Cousin Eddie!"  
  
"That's my mom, Randy Quaid. Movie number eight of the night is..." Rory looked for the video, but Lorelai was holding it behind her back. "Moooom." Rory whined.  
  
"No, I wanna show it off!"  
  
"We agreed that I would present the movies and you would present the candy."  
  
"But candy's boring!! I don't want to do candy anymore!!"  
  
"Well, you can't switch now, I've got three left!"   
  
"But I love Tom Hanks! I love Meg Ryan! I love them together! I can sing along with her and sound good!"  
  
"Give."  
  
"No!"  
  
"Now."  
  
Lorelai pouted and whimpered. Rory just held her hand out. Lorelai frowned and slapped the video into Rory's hand. "Fine. Meanie."  
  
"Number 8: Sleepless in Seattle."  
  
"It's got Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Rosie O'Donnel, Rob Reiner, and Rita Wilson. The fourth highest grossing movie of last year, and when Meg Ryan sings, it sounds like someone's scratching a cat's nails on a blackboard while it's being shaved as it's drowning."  
  
"So, better or worse than you?" Sookie asked. Lorelai glared and Rory high-fived Sookie.  
  
"You're gonna fit in fine, Sookie."  
  
"Yeah, okay great! Now, number nine and number ten are A Very Brady Christmas--Heeheeheehee, the Bradys make me laugh--and White Christmas--obviously, again because of the song. Now, let's watch movies!"  
  
  
  
~~~~~  
  
  
  
By five-thirty in the morning, Lorelai was the only one still awake. She turned off the "snowing" TV and placed "Christmas Vacation" back in its case. She looked at Sookie, all curled up on the couch, squeezing her stuffed chef's hat, and Rory, sprawled on the floor, hugging the life out of her rooster. Lorelai pulled a blanket over Sookie and headed to her room to get another blanket for Rory. She came back downstairs, and as she was fanning the blanket over Rory, she glanced toward the window to see...  
  
"Snow! Rory, Rory, get up, it's snow! Sookie, get up, it's snow!"  
  
Sookie and Rory stretched. Rory popped up.   
  
"Snow! Midnight snow walk! Come on, Sookie, we're going out to walk in the snow!"   
  
"Oh, is this the famous snow walk?" Sookie yawned.  
  
"Yep!" Lorelai threw Sookie's coat on top of her. "Let's go, come on, we're gonna miss it!"  
  
Sookie threw on her jacket and made it out the door seconds before it closed behind Lorelai.  
  
The girls stood with their arms around each other. The sun was coming up to the right and the snow was falling all around them.  
  
"This is perfect." Sookie whispered.  
  
"Absolutely perfect." Rory agreed.  
  
"I love you guys." Lorelai, standing in the middle, squeezed the other two towards her. 


	19. Higher Education

Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter 19: Higher Education  
  
Disclaimer: Hey! How ya doin? Yeah, that's great. So, I'm here today to tell you, that I, of course do _not_ own, Gilmore Girls, repeat do _not_ own Gilmore Girls. Anyway. So, whatcha doin' there? Really? That's absolutely great. So....I've run out of things to say. Weird. Cool!!! Kay, gotta go! Dance, Live, whatever. Hey, who's that you're making out with? Don't wanna tell me, huh? Oh, cheating on your boyfriend/girlfriend? Naughty, naughty, naughty girl/boy. Hehe, I'm soooooooo hyper!  
  
  
  
~~~~  
  
  
  
"Hey, babe!"   
  
Lorelai waved across the elementary school playground to Rory. Rory waved back but kept talking to her teacher. Lorelai walked past the fence into the playground area. An aggressive kindergartener almost knocked her over as she walked toward the impromptu student-teacher meeting.  
  
"We'll just have to clear it with your mother." Lorelai heard Rory's teacher say as she got close.  
  
"Clear what with me?" Lorelai asked, slipping her arm around Rory and squeezing her in a half-hug. Rory smiled up at Lorelai as Ms. Tusa explained.  
  
"Rory's a very gited student."  
  
"Yes, I know," Lorelai agreed.  
  
"She needs to be challenged."  
  
"Oh, I agree."  
  
"So...my former math teacher, Mrs. Rutledge, has offered to tutor Rory in algebra three afternoons a week!" Ms. Tusa finished excitedly.   
  
"Oh, wow. Uh, really?"  
  
Ms. Tusa nodded.  
  
"Okay. Uh, Rory, are you sure you wanna learn math? And, it's not only math, it's higher math."  
  
"Oh, I already asked her that, but the truth is, she's already very advanced in literature. I mean, how many fifth-graders have read Anna Karenina?" Ms. Tusa giggled.  
  
"Not many, I'm sure." Lorelai mock-laughed. "So, Rory, sweetie, are you sure about the whole math thing?"   
  
"Yeah. I wanna learn algebra." Rory nodded.  
  
"Okay, sure. Oh yeah, not to be rude, but is this gonna cost me?"  
  
"Only in lost hotel worker's fees." The girls started walking away from Rory's teacher.  
  
"Oh, no, I'm gonna lose my best worker!" Lorelai cried out in pretend distress.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll help you hire someone to take my place."  
  
"And train them too?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Okay, good. Hey, we should celebrate. What do you say, coffee, candy, movies?"  
  
"Willy Wonka?"  
  
"Ooh, yeah! Okay, I get coffee, candy, you get the movie?"  
  
"Mmm, you get coffee, I get movie, we both get candy."  
  
"Deal." Lorelai watched Rory walk around the corner to the video store, and then she turned and headed into Luke's. She was hoping for friendly, coffee-producing banter, but instead of Luke ehind the counter, there was Cesar.  
  
"Hey...Cesar, where's your flannel wearing counterpart?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Luke. Where's Luke?"  
  
"Gone."  
  
"Yeah, I figured that. Gone, where?"  
  
"Dunno." Cesar shrugged.  
  
"Okay, that's great. Can I get two extra-large coffees to go?"  
  
"Luke said you can have no coffee."  
  
"What?"  
  
"He said no coffee for Lorelai Gilmore. Right here on this note." Cesar held up a piece of paper. Lorelai read it.  
  
"'Absolutely no coffee for Lorelai--' Oh, my God, he said no coffee! Oh, kicking his ass is gonna be soooo fun!" Lorelai ran out of the diner, but before the door closed, she ran back in. "So no idea where he is?" Cesar shook his head. "Okay." Lorelai ran back out.  
  
  
  
~~~~  
  
  
  
"Taylor, I am so sorry." Rory ran into Doose's market. "I had no idea she'd do that."  
  
"Well, all I have to say is that you need to learn to control your mother more. She's running around like a teenager!"  
  
"I know, I know, Taylor. I'll try to keep her under my watch from now on. I went to go get a movie, I'm really sorry."  
  
"Okay, well, just don't let it happen again."  
  
"Sure. So can you relinquish my twenty-seven-year old mother to sweet little eleven-year-old me?"  
  
"Well, okay. It's not store protocol, but sure."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Taylor walked to the back of the store. Lorelai came out a few minutes later, grinning sheepishly. Rory hit her.  
  
"Mom, how could you be so stupid? In front of Doose's?"  
  
"I'm sorry, I thought maybe Luke was buying groceries."  
  
"Okay, A), from Taylor? And 2), did you really think screaming 'Luke' and throwing your coat in the air was gonna make him come out?"  
  
"Well, 1), my judgement was clouded, and B), you've gotta stop doing homework in front of Mad About You."  
  
"Oh, but Paul and Jamie are so funny!"  
  
"Sweetie, Paul and Jamie are not real. Paul and Helen are real."  
  
"Mom, you ruined it."  
  
"Yeah, well, you made fun of my Streetcar Named Desire stunt."  
  
"Anyone would have made fun of that."  
  
"You're my daughter, you're supposed to be nice."  
  
"Only when you're not stupid."  
  
"That rule's not gonna work."  
  
"Yeah, I gotta rethink that."  
  
Lorelai and Rory giggled and continued home. 


	20. Make Like A Tree And Get Outta Here!

Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter 20: Make Like A Tree And Get Outta Here!  
  
Disclaimer: Hey! I'm back. And I still own nothing. Absolutely _nothing_. Cool, huh?  
  
  
  
~~~~  
  
  
  
"Rory!" Lorelai called as she walked into the house.  
  
"In my room!" Rory called back. Lorelai walked from the front door into Rory's room, depositing the pizza box in her hands on the kitchen table. Rory was at her desk, studying.  
  
"Ror, sweets, you're twelve. Live a little!"  
  
"After the history test."  
  
"Aw, babe, you're gonna ace it."  
  
"After I study, I will. What are you so excited about?"  
  
"Me? Oh, not much. I brought pizza and a movie home."  
  
"Yeah, that sounds normal. Why are you so happy?"  
  
"Oh, nothing. Come on, get some pizza. I've got news." Lorelai said, leading Rory to the kitchen table.  
  
"Ahh! What's your news? Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me now!"  
  
"Oh, calm down, child of mine. Okay, you remember that cute guy I told you about?"  
  
"The one who's always flirting with you when you come out of your yoga class?"  
  
"That's the one!"  
  
"Did you find out what he does?"  
  
"Yeah, he teaches a class near mine."  
  
"A yoga class?"  
  
"No, a craft class. Anyway, he asked me out!"  
  
"No!"  
  
"For tonight!"  
  
"No!"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"So are you going?"  
  
Lorelai nodded. "Mm-hmm. But only if you want me to. Otherwise I can call him right now."  
  
"No, don't! You have to go! I'll just stay home and watch your peace offering." Rory lifted the video.  
  
"Ack, you can see right through me."  
  
"Always. Now, you better go get ready."  
  
"Yes, I better!" Lorelai grabbed another slice of pizza and started upstairs to her room. Rory smiled and got up from the table to grab her history book. "Don't you even think about studying!" Lorelai called from upstairs. Rory smiled and sat back down.  
  
  
  
~~~~  
  
  
  
"Is he here yet?" Lorelai called from upstairs twenty minutes later.  
  
"No!"  
  
"Thank god! Hey, have you seen my silver dangly bracelet?"  
  
"Yes. It's in my room!"  
  
"Why is it in your room?"  
  
"Be-" Rory started to yell, before noticing her mother was walking down the stairs. "Because it's mine. Grandma gave it to me last year for Christmas."  
  
"Ugh, don't say that name. I don't have to see her for another four months, I'm happy."  
  
"We're not going for Thanksgiving?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"We're not going to Grandma and Grandpa's for Thanksgiving?"  
  
"I don't know. I--can I borrow your silver dangly bracelet?"  
  
"Yes. Just as long as you promise not to bring home the Back to the Future trilogy the next time you have a date."  
  
"Oh, you don't like it?" Lorelai walked out of Rory's room and into the living room. She held her arm out to Rory and Rory started fixing the bracelet on Lorelai's arm.  
  
"Sure, it's just not something you can watch over and over and over by yourself."  
  
"Call Lane."  
  
"Mrs. Kim's still a little mad about the chocolate covered coffee beans you sent Lane home with last week."  
  
"Aw. Mrs. Kim needs to get a life."  
  
"She has one: ruining Lane's."  
  
"Oh. Well, call another friend."  
  
"Like who?"  
  
"The girl you swim with over the summer. What's her name?"  
  
"Kathy Fischer?"  
  
"Kathy Fischer! Call Kathy Fischer."  
  
"I guess I can call her."  
  
"And hey, if she's not home?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Call Sookie. Or Luke! See if you can get Luke to close up and watch Back to the Future with you."  
  
"That's an idea. I could just watch it alone."  
  
"You could, you sociopath."  
  
"Go get ready for your date."  
  
"I am ready!" Lorelai stood up and looked down at her outfit. "You don't think I'm ready?"  
  
"Well, I think you should wear shoes."  
  
"Shoes! I knew I forgot something." Lorelai ran upstairs. The doorbell rang. "Ahh! Stupid early men."  
  
"Mom, he's half-an-hour late."  
  
"No, he's not. I'm not ready yet, he's early." The doorbell rang again. "Sweetie? Could you be a doll and get that?"  
  
"Oh, why not." Rory headed for the door and pulled it open. "Hi. It's nice to see you again. I'll be ready in just a few seconds. Come, sit on the couch and watch some of the beginning of Back to the Future. It's the first one." Rory led the bewildered man to the couch, held up one finger and ran upstairs. Seconds later her mother ran downstairs, fully dressed, complete with shoes and a purse.  
  
"Ted! Hi."  
  
"Uh, hi."  
  
"Ready to go?" Lorelai smiled and picked up her coat from a nearby chair.  
  
"Uh, yeah. I guess. Did I just see you--?"  
  
"See me what?" Lorelai smiled and titled her head, waiting for the rest of the question.  
  
"Uh, never mind. Let's go." Ted shook his head and started herding Lorelai out the door.  
  
"Whoo. I guess we're leaving. Bye!" Lorelai called seconds before Ted shut the door.  
  
"Do you always say good-bye to your house?" Ted asked, staring curiously at Lorelai.  
  
"Uh, sure. I just love it so much." Lorelai laid a hand on the side of the house.  
"Okay. Whatever." Ted shook his head and started for his car. Lorelai stood on the porch for a second and then walked toward Ted's car.  
  
  
  
~~~~  
  
  
  
Halfway through the second Back to the Future, Lorelai walked back into the house.  
  
"Bye!" She waved and then slammed the door. "Ugh!" she yelled, throwing her purse and coat on the floor.  
  
"Uh-oh. Bad date?"  
  
"Awful date. Horrible date. I was waiting for the Apocolypse to come, cause even that would have been better than the date." Lorelai sank onto the floor next to Rory.  
  
"So, bad date."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"I don't want to relive it."  
  
"Oh, come on. I got all embarrased for Michael J. Fox for you."  
  
"That's because you're a weirdo who gets embarrased when people in movies get embarrased."  
  
"Yeah, well. It just shows I'm empathetic."  
  
"Ha!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Did you just call yourself pathetic?"  
  
"I said empathetic."  
  
"Yeah, but if you drop the 'em-'...."  
  
"Mom! What happened?"  
  
"You know your little joke you play, the one where you say 'I'll be ready in a few minutes,' and then you disappear upstairs and the next thing they see is me?"  
  
"To weed out the dumb ones, yeah."  
  
"Usually after I tell them I have a twelve-year-old daughter they figure it out and run. Not this one, oh, no."  
  
"Didn't run?"  
  
"Didn't figure it out. I finally had to tell him."  
  
"When?"  
  
"As we were pulling up to the house."  
  
"Really? An hour and a half?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Ooh, that's bad."  
  
"That's not just bad, that's horrible. Oh, well. At least one good thing came out of the evening."  
  
"What?" Rory asked suspiciously.  
  
"He told me about a craft he's teaching his class next week, and I got an idea."  
  
"Oh, no." Rory groaned.  
  
"We're gonna make seashell candles!"  
  
"No, we're not. You are."  
  
"Ugh. That's mean."  
  
"Sorry, Mom, but I don't want to do another one of your projects. You'll just abandon it halfway through and make me finish it."  
  
"You are not being very nice to your mother."  
  
"I am always very nice. By nature, I am a sweet, kind, loving person."  
  
"Yeah. If you didn't have my same taste in clothes and my eyes, I'd think you were switched at birth."  
  
"Nope. No luck."  
  
"I am not having a good day."  
  
"Hey, I'll rewind the movie and we can make fun of Christopher Lloyd."  
  
"Mmm, not Christopher Lloyd, but we can make fun of Michael as his son."  
  
"Deal."  
  
"Okay, I'm gonna change, and then we'll get started." Lorelai stood up and started towards the stairs. When she reached the first landing she muttered under her breath, "Butthead."  
  
"Hey!" Rory yelled when she heard it. "Why don't you make like a tree and get outta here?"  
  
"Sure, sweets. I'll be right back with the chocolate I stopped to buy for you on my way home from the horrible date. But you don't get any, cause I've gotta make like a tree and _leave_!"  
  
"No, I'm sorry! I love trees! Trees are my friend!" Rory ran after her mother. 


	21. Yoga's Supposed To Make You Peaceful!

Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter 21: Yoga's Supposed To Make You Peaceful!  
  
A year later, of course. Rory is thirteen. Hey, two/three more chapters to go! (I don't know yet.)  
  
Hey, if you like Lorelai/Christopher stories, you should check out "Always You." Of course, this isn't really a Lor/Chris anymore. It's more like a Lor/Ror everyday thing. By the way, who here thought I did an okay job with the chapter "Life As I Know It...Is Over"? That's the one I wrote in first person. I kinda liked it, and I was wondering if anyone hates it when they read a story in that style, cause if I did an okay job on that one, I've got another idea for a story that would be perfect in that style. Just please let me know what you think.   
  
Kudos to anyone who can correctly tell me which TV show I got the hospital from.   
  
  
  
~~~~  
  
  
  
Rory wiggled around on the couch, getting the cushions in a perfect mushed position. Satisfied, she tightened the blanket around her legs and pulled the bookmark out of her book. She sighed contentedly, and began reading.  
  
"It was a _low, dull, quick sound--much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton._ I gasped for breath--"  
  
The phone rang, and Rory jumped. Reluctantly she replaced her bookmark and closed the book. The picture of Edgar Allan Poe stared at her, and she quickly flipped it over. She laid it, face-down, on the couch as she slipped from under the blanket and made her way to the ringing phone.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"She took away my CD player!" Lane yelled.  
  
"What? How'd that happen? Did she find out about your closet?"  
  
"No. I thought she wasn't home, so I was listening to Ben Folds Five on my bed with my headphones on, and apparently she came home and called me a lot of times, and since I couldn't hear her and I wasn't paying attention, she came upstairs and found me on my bed listening to evil music on an evil CD player."  
  
"You want mine?"  
  
"Yeah, but I can't get it tonight. I'm grounded for a week."  
  
"Not from the phone?"  
  
"I'm supposed to be calling the Psalm-a-day hotline."  
  
"Ah. Well, I'll bring my CD player over tomorrow. And the Ben Folds Five CD."  
  
"Thanks, Rory. Oh, my mom's calling me. I gotta go wax more tables."  
  
"Yuck. Bye, Lane."  
  
"Bye. Coming, Mama!" she yelled as she hung up the phone. Rory hung up the phone and walked into her room. After scrawling herself a neatly written note, she picked up the phone, walked back to her spot on the couch, and covered herself with the blanket. Glancing at the clock, she dialed a familiar number.  
  
"Hey, Pete, it's Rory. Yeah, I got an A. Thanks, that's what my mom said too. Anyway, she's gonna be home in about an hour and--yoga class. Uh-huh. Anyway, she needs sustenance after--well, she's got a long drive home. So I need a large pizza. The usual with extra cheese. No, wait, no pepperoni. Yeah, that does sound kinda bad. So no mushrooms either. Or those. Or those. So a large cheese pizza with extra cheese. Yes, we still want the extra cheese! An hour and a half, perfect. Okay, great. Thanks. Bye." Rory hung up the phone and placed it on the table. Then she opened her book and started reading more of "The Tell-Tale Heart." Two words later, the jangling of the phone cut into her thoughts again. Rory sighed and decided to let the answering machine get it. After the third ring, she couldn't handle it anymore and grabbed it up.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hey, sweets."  
  
"Hey, Mom. Listen, I just called Pete and ordered a large pizza with extra cheese. It'll get here a half hour after you did."  
  
"You're such a good parent."  
  
"Thanks. Wait, aren't you supposed to be in yoga class for another half-hour?"  
  
"Um...maybe."  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
"Well, that little blonde twit I hate was right next to me and showing me up, and so we were in this headstand--handstand? Headstand? Which one's which?"  
  
"Mom, will you please tell me why you are not in class right now?"  
  
"We were in a handstand or something, and I fell over and took the little blonde twit with me."  
  
"And?"  
  
"And now I'm in the hospital with a broken leg."  
  
"Oh, my God!"  
  
"Yeah, so I need you to call someone and come pick me up."  
  
"Okay. Who?"  
  
"Uh, I dunno. But I wanna stay on the phone with you until they pick you up, and then you come and pick me up."  
  
"How am I gonna call anyone if you're on the phone?"  
  
"Damn. This is why we need a second phone line."  
  
"For all the times you break your leg and I need to call someone? No, we do not need a second phone line."  
  
"You're a mean mom."  
  
"How about we hang up, I find a ride, and then you call me back?"  
  
"Okay, I guess that'll work." Lorelai agreed reluctantly. "But if I can't get you in ten minutes, I'm gonna call the police."  
  
"Agreed."  
  
"Good."  
  
"Uh, who should I call?"  
  
"Try Sookie."  
  
"Okay. Talk to you in a sec."  
  
"Bye, sweetie."  
  
Rory hung up the phone and dialed Sookie.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hi, Sookie."  
  
"Oh, hey, Rory! How are you?"  
  
"I'm okay. I was wondering how your car was doing?"  
  
"Ooh, it's in the shop."  
  
"Okay. Well, I gotta go."  
  
"Wait, wait, wait. What'd you need my car for?"  
  
"Oh, Mom's stuck in Hartford with a broken leg."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Yeah, I know. I gotta find someone who can drive me."  
  
"Okay. Sorry I couldn't help, sweetie."  
  
"That's okay. You can just freak out. Mom'll appreciate it."  
  
"Okay. I'll get started now. Oh, my God! Lorelai has a broken leg!"  
  
"Bye, Sookie."  
  
"Bye, sweetie. Lorelai has a broken leg, I can't believe it!"  
  
Rory smiled and hung up the phone. After a moment's thought, she picked up the receiver and dialed a number almost as familiar as the pizza place's.  
  
"Luke's."  
  
"Hey, Luke? I need your help."  
  
"Rory? What is it?"  
  
"Uh, my mom broke her leg, and she's in Hartford and can't get home."  
  
"Hold on--I'll be right over."  
  
The dial tone abruptly sounded in her ear. Rory hung up her phone and it immediately rang. She picked it right back up.  
  
"Mom?"  
  
"So is Sookie coming?"  
  
"No, it's Luke."  
  
"Oh, Luke's coming?"  
  
"Yeah. It'll probably be a few minutes, cause he's gotta--"  
  
There was a knock on the door and Luke walked in.  
  
"He's gotta what?" Lorelai asked in Rory's ear.  
  
"Uh, he's here, Mom. I guess I'll see you in half-an-hour."  
  
"Is that Lorelai?" Luke asked, pointing at the phone. Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed the phone from Rory. "Are you okay?"  
  
"Did you just ask if it was me on the phone? Who else would she be calling Mom?"  
  
"You're okay. See you in half-an-hour."  
  
"Sure. Beth Israel Medical Center."  
  
"In Hartford?"  
  
"No, New York."  
  
"Rory, do you know how to get to the Beth Israel Medical Center?" Luke moved the phone away from his mouth.  
  
"Yeah, sure." Rory shrugged and continued putting on her shoes.  
  
"Okay, see you soon." Luke said into the phone. Lorelai started to say something else, but Luke had already hung up and started herding Rory out of the house. 


	22. High School

Title: Life As I Know It   
Chapter 22: High School   
  
Okay, I'm gonna let you read in just a second, but this is a very important note....I LOVE REVIEWS!! If you could, please, I've got about four or five other stories that I am currently writing. If you could review, that'd be great.   
  
Oh, yeah, and, of course, I'm writing another story with my good friend Seehoo, under the name dodgerluvsrory. The name of the story is "The Cat Came Back." Just to let you know.   
  
~~~~   
  
Rory rolled over in bed and and opened her eyes.   
  
"Aah!" she screamed and sat up in bed.   
  
"Morning, sleepyhead." Lorelai grinned from her seat in Rory's armchair. "Time to get up!"   
  
"How long have you been sitting there? An hour?"   
  
"What, are you kidding? I sat right down here at midnight last night, and I haven't moved! Well, except to change into my pajamas. And to go to the bathroom. And to get dressed for work this morning. And to get something to read, because watching you sleep is _enormously_ boring."   
  
"In other words, about an hour."   
  
"Well, no, about five. Anyway, time to get up!"   
  
Rory groaned. "Oh, it's too early."   
  
"Oh, but today's your first day of high school!"   
  
Rory sprang up out of bed. "It's my first day of high school!"   
  
"It's your first day of high school!"   
  
"Yay!" Both girls jumped up and down, and the Rory suddenly stopped.   
  
"Ohhh, what am I going to wear?" she wailed, heading directly to her closet.   
  
"Don't worry, I'll help you. I'm perfect with clothes! I mean, look at my outfit." Lorelai gestured to her outfit, and twirled around.   
  
"Uh, Mom?"   
  
"Uh, Rory?"   
  
"Your skirt's on backwards."   
  
~~~~   
  
"Luke! Coffee for my big high-schooler!" Lorelai pronounced as she and Rory walked into the diner an hour later.   
  
"Wow, Rory, you're growing up, huh?" Luke said as he placed two cups on the counter and started pouring coffee.   
  
"Mmm, no, don't say that! She's still my little baby! My wittle, ittle baby!" Lorelai tried to pinch Rory's cheeks, but she ducked and headed to a table with her coffee.   
  
"Lorelai, leave her alone. She's a big girl," Luke said as Lane walked into the diner and sat next to Rory. Lorelai sighed and leaned against the counter, watching as her fourteen-year-old daughter laughed at something Lane said.   
  
"Yeah, she's growing up," Lorelai whispered softly.   
  
"You okay?" Luke asked after a few minutes of silence.   
  
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just feeling old." Lorelai held out her empty cup. "Coffee?"   
  
"You're not old," Luke protested as he poured. "You're anything but old."   
  
"But my baby's growing up! And I'm practically _thirty_." Lorelai whispered the last word.   
  
"I thought you were thirty."   
  
"Oh, shush and bring me pancakes."   
  
"You know, I'm over thirty," Luke pointed out, crossing his arms across his chest and not even moving toward the kitchen and Lorelai's pancakes.   
  
"Yeah, but you're a guy."   
  
"And you're a girl."   
  
"Mm, thank you for noticing."   
  
"Well, you're always wearing skirts. I figured you were either a girl or a cross-dresser, and I've been pushing for girl."   
  
"Okay, remind me never to travel inside your head."   
  
"Why don't I just forbid you to ever do that? It'll make it easier."   
  
"You're forbidding me to ever travel inside your head?" Lorelai gasped. "That's very rude of you, Luke."   
  
"Eh, well, Taylor already thinks I am, why not live up to his ideas."   
  
"Exactly! Pancakes." Lorelai pointed to the kitchen. Luke handed her a doughnut and she just looked at him.   
  
"On the house."   
  
"That's sweet."   
  
"Just trying to get you to shut up." Luke turned and headed into the kitchen. Lorelai smiled after him and then walked over to where Rory and Lane were sitting.   
  
"Hey!"   
  
"Hi, Mom. Guess what?"   
  
"Uh, you love coffee and school," Lorelai guessed as she sat down.   
  
"Well, obviously. No, I mean, Lane has news."   
  
"Ooh, news! Tell, tell!"   
  
"Okay. Well, it's kinda big. Actually, it's not that big. I guess it could be big. I think it's kinda big." Lane rambled.   
  
"Lane! Tell me the news now before I explode!"   
  
"Oh, yeah. Okay, here's the news. My parents are going out of town for a few days in a week, and instead of shipping me off to live with my cousins for a _very_ long four days, she says I can stay with you guys! If you say it's okay, of course."   
  
"Oh, my God, it's so okay! You can totally come! It'll just be like girls night for days on end! I'm going to completely spoil you, you know. Chocolate, popcorn--all the forbidden foods."   
  
"Great! Of course, you know, you can't tell my mom any of that."   
  
"Oh, of course not. Scouts honor." Lorelai held up three fingers in the girl scout symbol.   
  
"You've never been a girl scout," Rory pointed out.   
  
"No, but I did belong to the Daughters of the Daughters of the American Revolution for, oh, about four days."   
  
"What does that have to do with the girl scouts?" Lane asked.   
  
"Uh...they both had great cookies?"   
  
"Oh, okay." Rory nodded.   
  
"Yeah, makes sense." Lane agreed.   
  
~~~~   
  
"So, is high school hard?" Lorelai asked Rory that afternoon when she showed up at the Inn after school.   
  
"Well, it was only the first day, but it doesn't seem to be any harder than eighth grade."   
  
"Yeah. Well, I don't actually remember high school. Or junior high. Basically everything between the ages of six and sixteen I blocked out of my mind."   
  
"Why before six?"   
  
"I was short and could steal the best cookies before anyone else got them."   
  
"Ah. Makes perfect sense."   
  
"You know, I've always thought so."   
  
"Yeah. You always make sense. That's what so likeable about you."   
  
"That, and my clothes and killer blue eyes."   
  
"Oh, yeah, those are the other two things. I almost forgot there, for a second."   
  
"You must never forget, child. If you forget, you forget to believe, and then Tinker Bell will die." Lorelai said in a serious voice.   
  
"Okay, you stopped making sense."   
  
"Make sense stopped have I."   
  
"Okay, now, that wasn't even good Yoda speak."   
  
"Use the force you must."   
  
"Run away from mother crazy first must I."   
  
"Ooh, you're running crazy? I can't wait to see this!"   
  
Rory shook her head and started walking toward the kitchen.   
  
"Oh, you're not running crazy! You gotta run crazy!" Lorelai walked after her. 


	23. Being Too Outdoorsy Is Bad

Title: Life As I Know It  
Chapter 23: Being Too Outdoorsy Is Bad  
  
Hey, I'm back, the story's almost over--it's all good.  
  
~~~~  
  
"So where's Lane?" Lorelai asked Rory as they were walking to Luke's.  
  
"Grounded."  
  
"Oh, what now?"  
  
"Mrs. Kim grounded her last week, apparently, but forgot to tell her--"  
  
"She forgot to tell her?" Lorelai interrupted Rory.  
  
"Yeah, I know, it's weird, but still--it is Mrs. Kim."  
  
"Right, yeah, continue."  
  
"Okay, so Lane came over to our house a couple days ago, unknowingly breaking about ten of her mom's rules."  
  
"And Mrs. Kim yelled and now Lane knows she's grounded for sure. Right?"  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"So when was the last time you saw her?"  
  
"It'll be a week on Thursday."  
  
"In other words, three days."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"You are so weird."  
  
"Learned from the best." Rory smiled at her mom, and Lorelai smiled back.  
  
"Mmm, coffee awaits!" Lorelai threw her arm around Rory's shoulders and they happily headed into the diner.  
  
~~~~  
  
"Honey, I'm home!" Lorelai called as she walked into the house a few days later.  
  
"Living room," Rory answered. Lorelai walked into the living room to find Rory stretched out on the couch under a blanket.  
  
"Oh, sweetie, you feeling okay?" Lorelai asked, concerned, as she sat on the couch next to the bundled-up fifteen-year-old.  
  
"Yeah. Just a little...out of sorts."  
  
"Miss your best friend?"  
  
"Yeah. It's weird, not seeing or talking to her."  
  
"Well, you see her at school, right?"  
  
Rory shook her head. "Her mom's home-schooling her for a while. She told the school Lane was contagious."  
  
"Ooh, she's even more evil than we originally thought."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Hey, speaking of evil--my mom called."  
  
"Grandma's not evil."  
  
"That's what you think. Anyway, she said we should start getting our Easter dresses fitted now."  
  
"Easter's not for two months!"  
  
"What'd I tell you, evil. Anyway, she got me thinking. I'm gonna make our dresses this year."  
  
"Cool!"  
  
"Yeah. So we're going shopping for fabric Saturday, so keep it open."  
  
"Sure. This is gonna be so fun!"  
  
"Yeah, but you don't have to make them."  
  
"I'll help."  
  
"Oh, I'm never letting you near a needle again. Not after the infamous bloody-shirt incident."  
  
"I didn't mean to do that."  
  
"I know, but still--you bled all over my shirt, and all you were doing was sewing on a button!"  
  
"Hey, at least we got some good rags out of it."  
  
"That's true, but we still don't use 'em."  
  
"Oh, yeah."  
  
~~~~  
  
Rory was walking around aimlessly the next day after school, and somehow she found herself in front of Kim's Antiques. After a slight weighing of the pros and cons in her head, she walked through the gate. After another minute, an idea hit her, and instead of heading through the front door, she walked around the corner of the house. There was a tall tree standing there, and one of the branches led directly to Lane's room. Rory got a look of determination on her face and started climbing. She made it up without any problem, but she paused a little as she noticed that the branch leading to Lane's window was really really thin. She shook her head and chalked it up to nervousness. Taking a deep breath, she held onto the thin branch as tightly as she could and started inching her way to the window.  
  
When she was about six feet away, she hissed, "Lane!"  
  
There wasn't an answer, so Rory looked around to see if there was anything she could throw at the window to get her friend's attention. She noticed a small acorn growing not far above her head, and she slowly lifted one arm up and reached for it.  
  
Suddenly Lane's window flew open. "Rory? Is that you?"  
  
"Ahh!" Rory, distracted, let go of the branch with her other arm and fell to the ground.  
  
~~~~  
  
"Oh, come on, Luke, I just want two coffees to go." Lorelai complained to Luke inside his diner.  
  
"No. You can't have two cups."  
  
"One of 'em's for Rory, I swear."  
  
"And how many times have you used that excuse?"  
  
Lorelai sighed and turned away from Luke. She _had_ used that excuse an awful lot. She looked out the window and something caught her eye.  
  
"Oh, my God!"  
  
"What now?" Luke asked, exasperated.  
  
"I think Rory just fell from that tree!" Lorelai ran out of the diner, leaving her purse and coat lying on the counter. Luke threw his order pad and pen down and followed her.  
  
~~~~  
  
"Oh, my God, Rory, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"  
  
"It's okay," Rory whispered.  
  
"Hold on, I'll be right down." Lane's face disappeared from the window. Rory groaned and held her right arm. She'd landed on it, and now it hurt a helluva lot.  
  
"Rory!"  
  
Rory looked above her head to see her mother running across the street.  
  
"Mom," she said, as loud as she could through the pain, which really wasn't very loud.  
  
"Oh, are you okay?" Lorelai ground to a halt next to Rory's almost-still form on the ground. Rory shook her head. "What's hurt? Your arm?"  
  
Rory nodded.  
  
"Luke, call an ambulance. Oh, sweetie, it's gonna be okay." Lorelai sat Rory up and hugged her as gently as she could, but Rory still winced. "Luke, call a damn ambulance!"  
  
Luke turned and ran back to the diner just as Lane came running out of her house.  
  
"I just called an ambulance. They'll be right here."  
  
"Oh, thank God. Oh, my poor baby!" Lorelai lovingly smoothed Rory's hair from her face. "What were you doing in the tree?"  
  
"I wanted to talk to Lane," Rory groaned.  
  
"I think I startled her." Lane said to Lorelai. "I'm really sorry, Rory. Really, really sorry."  
  
"Oh, it wasn't your fault, sweetie," Lorelai reassured the teenager.  
  
"Lane!" Mrs. Kim yelled from the doorway of Kim's Antiques.  
  
"Oh," Lane looked between her mother and her best friend.  
  
"Go," Rory groaned.  
  
Lorelai nodded. "We'll talk to you later, I promise."  
  
"Get better, Rory." Lane stood up and ran back into her house.  
  
"Okay, I called the hospital," Luke ran up to the girls and then stood doubled over, his hands on his knees, trying to regain his breath. "And they said someone's already on the way."  
  
"We know, Lane called."  
  
"Thanks for telling me."  
  
"You're welcome. Hey, Luke. You know how I was trying to get you to give me coffee earlier?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"You think maybe now you should get some for Rory?"  
  
Luke paused, indesicion all over his face. Finally he stood up. "Dammit, Lorelai. You're evil."  
  
"I learned from the best!" Lorelai called as Luke walked back to the diner.  
  
~~~~  
  
"See, this is what you get for being outdoors-y and, you know, touching nature." Lorelai shuddered, pointing to the cast on her daughter's hand.  
  
"At least I didn't get it falling from a headstand." Rory retaliated from her spot on the couch in their living room.  
  
"Oh, see now, that was just stupid. See, cause now I'm going to have to take this cup of coffee," Lorelai held up a plastic cup from Luke's, "and hold it away from you like this, and take a sip, like this."  
  
"No!" Rory screamed as Lorelai tilted the cup back.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, did you want some?" Lorelai smiled sweetly and held the coffee out to her injured daughter. Rory scowled and took it.  
  
"You're so mean."  
  
"I am not! After all, you've got the prime spot on the couch, we rented all the movies you wanted to see, I got all of your favorite foods, and I'm even going to let you hold the remote." Lorelai smiled and held the remote out to Rory. Rory gladly took it and pressed play.  
  
"Thank you, Mom."  
  
"You're welcome." Lorelai kissed Rory on the forehead and then sat down on the floor, right next to Rory's head.  
  
"You know, I'm not going to be able to write for a month."  
  
"You'll survive."  
  
"I've got a test on Monday!"  
  
"Relax. Lay back down and relax. I'm sure by now your teacher has heard the story, and Monday you will quite possibly be excused from the test, or maybe even allowed to take it orally."  
  
"You think so?"  
  
"Hello? The town sweetheart gets injured? It'll probably be declared a holiday, and you won't even have to go."  
  
"I don't think that's gonna happen."  
  
"Oh, can we pretend it does and stay home anyway? Oh, come on! It'll be fun! We can annoy Michel by calling him up all day and using different voices."  
  
"Well, that _does_ sound fun," Rory wavered.  
  
"It'll be great!" Lorelai turned back to the TV, the conversation over in her eyes.  
  
After about twenty minutes, Rory was drifting off, the pain medication they'd given her at the hospital kicking in already. Lorelai looked up and saw her sleeping daughter. She smiled. Rory looked so angelic when she was unconscious--well, more angelic than when she was awake. Lorelai slowly pulled the remote from Rory's hands and turned the TV off. Then she slipped her arms underneath Rory's neck and Rory's knees and tried to pick her up.  
  
"Whoa," she said softly, staggering under the sudden weight. Looking down at the floor, she kicked off her shoes and suddenly lost three inches in height. She shifted Rory in her arms and then started toward the younger Gilmore's bedroom. After what seemed like days, Lorelai was able to deposit Rory in bed and cover her up. She kissed Rory on the forehead and started out of the room, turning off the lights. She was about to close the door when Rory mumbled something.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I love you, Mommy."  
  
"I love you too, baby." Lorelai smiled, threw another kiss to her sleeping daughter, and closed the door fully behind her. 


	24. Life As I Know It Is Practically Perfect

Title: Life As I Know It...  
Chapter 24: ...Is Practically Perfect  
  
Goll--eee, this was long! Anyway, here we go, it's the end, and I'm sure you're all very happy....I know that I am. The bulk of this chapter is from my own head, but the last part is from Amy Sherman-Palladino's head, which is _soooo_ much funnier, but hey--that's why she's famous and I'm not. Okay, here we go: the final chapter of "Life As I Know It" that is very anti-climactic. If you want to know the rest of the story, watch the pilot or read the transcript at which is almost as good as watching the episode, but not quite. Okay, sorry, no more rambling.  
  
~~~~  
  
Lorelai and Rory were walking to Luke's--as was their very frequent custom--one semi-warm day in late August, deeply involved in a conversation.  
  
"Okay, so this school--"  
  
"Chilton Preparatory." Rory interrupted her mother.  
  
"Okay, so this _Chilton Preparatory_. It's a big deal."  
  
"A very big deal."  
  
"A very very big deal. It's a stepping stone on the way to Harvard."  
  
"My dream."  
  
"Your dream. So it's important you get in."  
  
"Yes. It's incredibly important I get in."  
  
"So I should do the principal."  
  
"Mom!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You should not...'do' the principal!"  
  
"I should at least offer--"  
  
"Mom. I beg you, _please_ don't finish that sentence."  
  
"Oh, come on. I should."  
  
"No! Don't. Please!"  
  
"All right." Lorelai sighed. "For you, I won't. At least, not now."  
  
Rory turned and gave her a look. Lorelai shrugged and then smiled, throwing her arm over Rory's shoulders and leading her into the diner.  
  
~~~~  
  
"I hate this," Lane groaned as she and Rory were walking through town.  
  
"What? The danish?" Rory pointed to the pastry in Lane's hand.  
  
"No, not the danish. The danish is great. I hate the fact that today is our last free Thursday."  
  
"It's only school."  
  
"That's easy for you to say, you're good at school."  
  
"You're good at stuff too."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Music. You're fabulous at music."  
  
"Oh. Thank you." Lane smiled.  
  
"My pleasure. Hey, you wanna go buy that jacket you were looking at last week?"  
  
"Oh, that denim one?"  
  
"Yeah, the denim one."  
  
"Yes! Let's go!"  
  
"You know, this is a really great danish." Rory observed, holding up her own pastry.  
  
"Yeah, Luke was at the top of his game today."  
  
~~~~  
  
"Pizza!" Lorelai called, walking into the house a few weeks later.  
  
"Kitchen!" Rory called back. Lorelai walked into the kitchen to find Rory sitting on the table, books spread out as far as the eye can see.  
  
"Studying already? I just hung up on you ten minutes ago."  
  
"And I was studying even then."  
  
"Hmph. You know, you're already too smart for your own good. Why are you studying?" Lorelai sank into a chair next to her daughter.  
  
"To get too smart for my own good in a _different_ subject."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"You study too. For your business class."  
  
"Yeah, but not like you. You're a studying fiend! And besides, whenever I study, I always have music on."  
  
"So put music on."  
  
"Are you sure? It won't bother you?"  
  
"Just as long as it's not your 'Rory's Studying' songs."  
  
"I resent that."  
  
"You won't after you see what came for you today."  
  
Lorelai gasped. "Ooh! What was it, what was it?"  
  
"It's over there," Rory pointed to the mail on an end-table.  
  
"I got mail, I got mail," Lorelai sang as she walked over and picked up the stack. "Oh, it's a package." She ripped it open. "It's a CD!"  
  
"Go put it on."  
  
"Oh, you rock!" Lorelai ran to Rory, kissed her on the cheek, and then headed to Rory's room. Within seconds, music was flowing into the kitchen.  
  
"Louder!" Rory called, closing her books and heading into her room.  
  
"Thank you so much for ordering this!" Lorelai kissed Rory again.  
  
"You're welcome."  
  
"Ooh, they have 'Brown-Eyed Girl!'" Lorelai pressed buttons on the CD player until "Brown-Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison performed by Everclear started playing. "You know, this song always made me wanna be a brown-eyed girl."  
  
"Just to have a song written about you, I'm sure."  
  
"Mmm, you know me so well."  
  
"At least you have killer blue eyes to make up for it."  
  
"That's true. These baby blues do knock 'em dead."  
  
"Yes. Pizza." Rory reminded her mother, pointing to the kitchen.  
  
"Ooh! Pizza!" Lorelai started back into the kitchen, Rory following her. "You know, this evening keeps getting better and better."  
  
~~~~  
  
"Rory! We're gonna be late!" Lorelai called one morning a week later, rushing madly around the house. "We do have places to be this morning!"  
  
"I know. I just can't find my homework!"  
  
"Ooh, that's bad." Lorelai ground to a halt in Rory's door.  
  
"My history report's due today, too!"  
  
"Ouch. You could just use the ol' 'the dog ate my homework' excuse."  
  
"Yeah. That'll work. We don't have a dog!" Rory yelled.  
  
"Here, have coffee. It'll help you calm down." Lorelai handed her a cup. "I'm heading to Luke's, I'll see you in a while."  
  
"Okay. Bye."  
  
"Bye. Luck!" Lorelai grabbed her coat and walked out of the house. Then she turned back and grabbed a cute hat from the coat rack. She felt like she needed to look cute today. And look cute, she did. She smiled as she made her way to the diner. As she stood outside the door, she steeled herself for an argument.  
  
"You can do this, Lorelai. You've got a cute hat on!" She smiled, did a slight hair-flip, and walked into Luke's.  
  
"Please, Luke. Please, please, please." Lorelai said as an opening statement, walking up to the counter, coffee cup already in hand.  
  
"How many cups have you had this morning?" Luke said in his normal grumpy voice.  
  
"None." Lorelai lied, hoping he wouldn't see through her.  
  
"Plus..." Yeah. He saw through her.  
  
"Five, but yours is better." Lorelai gave in.  
  
"You have a problem."  
  
"Yes, I do."  
  
Luke sighed, grabbed her cup, and filled it. "Junkie."  
  
"Angel. You've got wings, baby." Lorelai smiled and took a sip of her coffee. 


End file.
